WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund slightly lowered its outlook for global economic growth this year and next, mostly because of weaker expansions in Japan, Latin America and Europe.

The IMF said Tuesday the global economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, one-tenth of a point below what it forecast in July. World growth should then pick up to 3.8 percent in 2015, two-tenths of a point lower than its previous estimate, the IMF said in the latest installment of its World Economic Outlook.

The global lending organization has a more optimistic view of the U.S. economy, which it expects will grow 2.2 percent this year, up from an earlier forecast of 1.7 percent. Its forecast for 3.1 percent growth in the U.S. next year was unchanged.

August home prices decline from July

WASHINGTON – U.S. home prices increased in August, yet the pace of these gains continues to slow, helping to improve affordability for would-be buyers.

Prices rose 6.4 percent in August compared with a year ago, Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday. That marks a decline from an annual gain of 6.8 percent in July. Home prices had been rising as much as 12 percent yearly toward the end of last year.

Twitter sues to disclose federal surveillance

NEW YORK – Twitter is suing the FBI and the Department of Justice to be able to release more information about government surveillance of its users.

The social media company filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a California federal court to publish its full “transparency report,” which documents government requests for user information. Twitter Inc. published a surveillance report in July but couldn’t include the exact number of national security requests it received because Internet companies are prohibited from disclosing that information, even if they didn’t get any requests.

The San Francisco-based company said in a blog post that it believes it’s entitled under the First Amendment to “respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance.”

Fewer hires than jobs posted in August

WASHINGTON – U.S. employers advertised the most job openings in nearly 14 years during August, yet their pace of hiring fell compared to July.

The number of available jobs rose 230,000 to 4.84 million during the month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Restaurants, hotels and health care providers drove much of the increase, which resulted in the most openings since January 2001.

But total hiring fell 294,000 to 4.64 million, driven by declines in construction and retail. This suggests a potential mismatch between the wages employers are willing to pay and the skills of the workers available to be hired.

Billion-dollar casino sold for $110 million

CAMDEN, N.J. – A federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the sale of Atlantic City’s former Revel Casino Hotel for 5 cents on the dollar to a Toronto asset management firm.

Judge Gloria Burns approved the sale to Brookfield Asset Management for $110 million.

The casino cost $2.4 billion to build and never turned a profit. It closed Sept. 2 after just over two years of operation.