S&P cuts, affirms Italian banks in sweeping changes

MILAN/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded a broad swath of Italian banks, citing worries that the recession in the euro zone's third-largest economy could mean mounting losses for the country's lenders.

Greek jobless rate hits new record in Q4

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate rose to a fresh quarterly record of 20.7 percent in the last three months of 2011, reflecting the country's deep economic malaise, exacerbated by austerity to repair public finances and emerge from a debt crisis.