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President Obama’s administration took the first step to opening the skies above the United States to widespread civilian drone flights while proposing strict limits on commercial operations, including the use of drones as a delivery vehicle.

Congressional Republicans achieved an elusive legislative goal Feb. 11, sending a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to President Obama.

U.S. factories expanded at the weakest pace in a year in January as orders cooled, a sign weakness in overseas markets is restraining U.S. manufacturing, the Institute for Supply Management said.

Construction spending rose 0.4% in December to a seasonally adjusted $982 billion annual rate, the Commerce Department reported Feb. 2.

Oil climbed to over $50 a barrel Monday as workers at some of the nation’s refineries began strike action.

Crude oil surged the most in more than 2 1/2 years Jan. 14 after falling to the lowest since 2009.

U.S. jobless claims fell by 4,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Jan. 8.

More Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits for the first time in five weeks, displaying the typical year-end holiday swings that make the data difficult to interpret.

West Coast dockworkers asked that major employers on the board of the Pacific Maritime Association join in contract negotiations that have stretched over seven months.