Employee-Paid

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Thursday directing federal officials to design a government-wide strategy for making the federal workforce more diverse.

Foreign students working at a candy warehouse protested conditions and pay for a second day Thursday, chanting on Chocolate Avenue under streetlights shaped like Hershey's Kisses, arguing that they were employed under the guise of a cultural exchange but toil away in what amounts to a sweets sweatshop.

The White House has asked federal agencies to propose ways to cut spending by 10 percent or more for the upcoming budget, underscoring the political jockeying under way as President Barack Obama and Congress prepare for a fiery autumn clash over the economy and the debt.

Discouraging economic data from around the globe have heightened fears that another recession is on the way.

Union leaders are calling on the Postal Service to disavow a proposal to slash up to 120,000 jobs.

Connecticut's state employee unions announced Thursday that rank-and-file members ratified a labor savings and concessions agreement, giving Gov. Dannel P. Malloy the go-ahead to rescind thousands of layoff notices and forgo additional state budget cuts.

A private research group forecast that the economy will grow slowly in the second half of the year because of the support it's gotten from the Federal Reserve.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose back above 400,000 last week. Still, the four-week average, a more reliable gauge of the job market, fell to the lowest level since mid-April.