ROME - FIAT Group SpA has for the first time shut down most of its Italian plants for a month, laying off nearly 50,000 workers for an extended holiday as it copes with the precipitous drop in demand for new autos.

The shutdowns through mid January affect 14 of Fiat's 20 Italian plants, and 48,000 blue collar workers out of its nearly 80,000-strong Italian work force.

WASHINGTON - THE construction of new US homes plummeted in November by the largest amount in almost a quarter-century as builders slashed production in the face of a recessionary economy.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that new home starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000 from a downwardly revised level of 771,000 in October.

WASHINGTON - As US unemployment rises painfully higher and retirement nest eggs are shattered, the Federal Reserve is prepared to slash a key interest rate - perhaps to an all-time low - in a desperate bid to stem the country's economic slide.

With the Fed's key rate dropping ever closer to zero, the central bank is moving into uncharted territory.