U.S. housing starts and permits unexpectedly plummeted to record lows in April, torpedoing hopes of a housing market recovery as well as hopes the overall economy is regaining traction.

Starts for privately owned homes clocked in at a 458,000 annual rate, a 12.8% decline from March’s revised rate of 525,000 and a 54.2% dive from April 2008’s annual rate of 1,001,000 starts, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Meanwhile, building permits for privately owned housing units were applied for at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000, 3.3% below March’s revised rate of 511,000 and a 50.2% plummet from April 2008’s revised rate of 991,000.

The Commerce Department report also sheds light on the complexity of the housing market’s fallout and path to recovery.

Most strikingly, while starts in the West have dropped 52.9% from last year, they actually rose 42.5% from March 2009. The

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Universal Detection Technology (UNDT.OB), a developer of monitoring technologies, including bioterrorism detection devices, announced that the company is working with the U.S. Department of Commerce to promote its anthrax and other bioterrorism detection equipment in China. Universal Detection Technology is a reseller of handheld assays used for detection of five bioterrorism agents, radiation detection systems and antimicrobial products.

The company’s five-agent bioterrorism detection kits have been extensively used by first responders and private industries throughout the United States. In fact, testing by the U.S. Department of Defense shows that the kits demonstrate no cross-reactivity or false positives with commonly encountered “white powders.”

Universal Detection Technology is now listed as a featured U.S. exporter on Commercial Service’s China website. Jacques Tizabi, Universal Detection Technology’s chairman and chief executive officer, stated, “We were suppliers of both radiological and biological weapon detection equipment for the Beijing Olympics and the Department of Commerce listing gives us

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After months of speculation, General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history, ending a futile seven-month effort to refinance its debt.

General Growth filed for Chapter 11 seeking protection from creditors after it amassed $27 billion in debt accumulating over 200 shopping mall properties. The filing covers 158 of its U.S. malls, but excludes its joint-venture properties and third-party management business.

The Chicago-based company – the country’s second largest shopping mall owner – owns such valuable properties as Fashion Show in Las Vegas and Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston. It listed total assets of $29.56 billion and total debt of $27.29 billion.

“We intend to emerge as a leaner company,” General Growth President Thomas Nolan told Bloomberg News in an interview. “We want to come out as a less leveraged company. Our business model remains strong.” In

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis, of the U.S. Department of Commerce, released the Final Gross Domestic Product Report for the 3rd Quarter.  Real GDP decreased at an annual rate of 0.5%, to $14,412.8 billion, following a 2.8% growth rate in the second quarter, and a 0.9% growth rate in the first quarter of 2008.  Negative contributions to GDP were personal consumption expenditures (-2.75% change) which has been roughly 70% of GDP while exports (+3% change), imports (-1.9% change subtracted from GDP), and government spending (+1.14% change) made positive contributions to GDP.  The GDP Deflator, the broadest measure of inflation, increased 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, compared with an increase of 1.1% in the 2nd.  The CPI has decreased over the past couple months, so the GDP Chain Deflator will deflate in the 4th Quarter.  The Advance 4th Quarter GDP Report will be available on

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And now that the governments of America have literally become the economy (and paying themselves handsomely in the process!), there is no way that the government can be allowed to shrink…

The U.S. Department of Commerce says that, the way it looks to them, even after spending a lot of time adjusting and smoothing and rounding the data so that things look as good as possible, third-quarter Gross Domestic Product is going to be down again - like this is some Big Freaking News (BFN) to us guys out here who are either being laid off, or hearing rumors that we are going to be laid off, or listening to other people yammering about how they were laid off, or being blamed for profit shortfalls and statistically poor performance, but which they calculate without any “smoothing” factors like how the customers are all a bunch of idiots and so are my

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Visitors from China to the United States grew 33 per cent year on year in the first six months of 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

MyECheck Inc. (OTCBB: MYEC) announced today that it has signed on a new client, Unlimited Furniture, and will be providing the company with its comprehensive suite of electronic check processing services. The accord will give Unlimited Furniture customers the ability to use their checking accounts as an alternative way to pay for products.

MyECheck’s unique patent pending software is able to debit any U.S. checking account, including those that ACH cannot debit, enabling online merchants to expand their potential marketing base to more consumer and businesses. The process doesn’t require a physical check and adheres to the Check 21 specification.

“The US Department of Commerce released retail e-commerce sales data recently showing that online sales grew by 13.4% during Q1 2008 over Q1 2007,” commented Ed Starrs, CEO of MyECheck. “Combined with an increase in the use of electronic check payments, we expect our services to

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