SALT LAKE CITY -- After several years of robust growth, home appreciation in Utah is slowing down. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said homes in the state appreciated by 1.9 percent in the year ending in June. That's down from 5.6 percent from the agency's report from last year and several years of double-digit increases.

NEW YORK -- Americans felt better about the economy in August, as a barometer of sentiment posted the biggest boost in two years amid falling gas prices. Two reports suggested that a bottom could be nearing for the housing market, but economists caution it's too early to proclaim that the worst is over.

WASHINGTON -- The number of people without health insurance fell by more than 1 million in 2007, the first annual decline since the Bush administration took office, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Incomes edged up for the middle class while poverty held steady.

WASHINGTON -- The number of troubled U.S. banks leaped to the highest level in about five years and bank profits plunged by 86 percent in the second quarter, as slumps in the housing and credit markets continued. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data released Tuesday show 117 banks and thrifts were considered to be in trouble in the second quarter, up from 90 in the prior quarter and the biggest tally since mid-2003.