IMF: Low oil prices still hurting MideastDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Oil-producing Mideast countries are coping with low global oil prices though more government reforms are needed, the International Monetary Fund’s chief for the Mideast said as the organization issued a new report Wednesday showing weak economic growth in the region.Masood Ahmed also told The Associated Press that Iran’s economy beat expectations by growing by 4.5 percent this year and could keep up that pace if it can modernize its industries and allow in more foreign investment after its nuclear deal with world powers.

Home building falls 9% in SeptemberWASHINGTON — Homebuilders pulled back on construction for a second straight month in September, with a plunge in apartments offsetting gains in single-family homes. Building activity was weak in all parts of the country, except the Midwest.Construction tumbled 9 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.05 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the slowest pace in 18 months. Construction had fallen 5.6 percent in August.The weakness last month reflected a 38 percent drop in construction of apartments, which overshadowed an 8.1 percent rise in single-family construction.

Fed says economy grows at faster rate,/b>WASHINGTON — U.S. economic growth accelerated slightly as summer ended and fall began, supported by modest hiring, an uptick in consumer spending, and steady homebuilding, according to the Federal Reserve.The Fed’s “Beige Book” survey of economic conditions in its 12 regional bank districts, released Wednesday, found that growth was modest or moderate in eight districts, slight in three, and flat in the New York district.The mild improvement could encourage Fed policymakers to lift short-term interest rates by their December meeting.Delta unveils new employee uniformsATLANTA — Some Delta Air Lines employees are using a less familiar runway to show off new uniforms created by fashion designer Zac Posen.Employee models took to a fashion runway to debut the clothing Wednesday on Facebook.Delta says the uniforms will be worn by more than 60,000 of its employees, from technicians to flight attendants. The company says the uniforms “elevate the look and brand of Delta employees.”T-Mobile fined $48M over slowing dataNEW YORK — T-Mobile will pay $48 million for not clearly telling customers how “unlimited” data plans weren’t really, well, unlimited.The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that T-Mobile had a policy to slow down the speeds of customers who were the heaviest data users. But the agency said the company didn’t let customers know what the data-use threshold was for triggering the lower speed.