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The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.9% in February 2011, compared with 10.0% in January. It was 10.0% in February 2010. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.5% in February 2011, compared with 9.6% in January. It was 9.6% in February 2010.

In February 2011 compared with January 2011, the industrial producer price index rose by 0.8% in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU27. In January prices increased by 1.3% and 1.2% respectively.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 8.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, leisure and hospitality, and mining. Employment in manufacturing continued to trend up.

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 February 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.8 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 33.0 percent market share.

Online advertised vacancies rose 208,800 in March to 4,454,500 according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series. The March rise follows a large January increase and a small change in February, and brings the gain in labor demand in the first quarter of 2011 to over 600,000.

The SFN Group Employee Confidence Index decreased 2.2 points to 51.4 in March. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, reveals a dip in overall confidence among workers, specifically in regards to confidence in the strength of the economy.

Private nonfarm business sector multifactor productivity grew at a modest 0.1 percent annual rate in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. In 2009, the gain in multifactor productivity reflected decreases of 3.7 percent in output and 3.8 percent in the combined inputs of capital and labor. Capital services grew by 1.1 percent, and labor input which is the combined effect of hours worked and labor composition – fell 6.3 percent. For both the private nonfarm business and private business sectors, the declines recorded in output, combined inputs of capital and labor, and labor input were the largest in the series, which began in 1987. Growth in capital services was also the slowest recorded since the series began.

One out of two U.S. small business owners expect increased sales in the next six months, but rising non-labor costs threaten to squeeze profits and result in higher selling prices over the same period, according to the PNC Economic Outlook survey's newest findings.

Rising costs of food are giving Americans sticker shock at the grocery store, and consumers are responding by getting crafty with their saving strategies.

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows interest rates increasing slightly with the 30-year fixed sitting at 4.86 percent, up five basis points from the previous week.