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comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending March 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.5 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 34.7 percent market share.

Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information, reports that used vehicles are more expensive than ever, as covered in the company's Blue Book Market Report for May 2011.

More Americans are planning to travel this summer despite rising gas prices, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker (59 percent in 2011 vs. 51 percent in 2010). Vacationing consumers plan to take an average of two week-long vacations, spending an average of $1,200 per person, and three weekend-getaways with an average spend of $300 per weekend.

As the housing market continues to struggle with high inventory and a lack of demand, home buyers appear ill-prepared to take out a mortgage, answering basic questions about mortgage information wrong nearly half (46 percent) of the time according to a Zillow Mortgage Marketplace survey.

Economic and business confidence among Chief Financial Officers in Europe demonstrates slight signs of improvement in Q1, but for the second straight quarter, remain behind their U.S. counterparts, found the most recent survey of CFOs conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. Despite a small dip in confidence, U.S. executives' optimism remains stable as they expect large gains in net earnings in the next 12 months. With expectations of substantially higher oil prices for the immediate future, CFOs overall see inflation as a mounting concern but have yet to experience a widespread impact from other world events, such as the Japanese earthquake.

Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 2.7% in the year to March 2011, compared with 2.4% in February. This increase was driven by an acceleration in energy prices which grew by 12.4% in March, compared with 10.2% in February. Food prices continued to rise at relatively high rates: 3.2% in March (compared with 3.1% in February).

U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a five-week low as the highest gasoline prices in almost three years soured Americans’ views of the buying climate.

Regions are the economic engines of the world economy and are increasingly playing a driving role in the push for innovation and economic competitiveness, but disparities between rich and poor areas are growing and will require renewed government policy attention, according to a new OECD report.

The April CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by 1.35 percent through the month, after posting an increase of .69 percent in March. To date, the index results display the highest hiring gain of 2011.

The worldwide smartphone market grew 79.7% year over year in the first quarter of 2011 (1Q11), driven by a combination of vendors releasing highly anticipated models, widespread availability of older smartphones at lower prices, and sustained end-user demand. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 99.6 million units in 1Q11, nearly double from the 55.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010.