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The sales price of newly constructed residential buildings in 70 large and medium-sized cities decreased in 8 cities and that of remained the same level in 6 cities comparing with the previous month.

GFI Software, a leading IT solutions provider for small and medium-sized enterprises, announced the results of an independent survey conducted by Opinion Matters, in which more than 200 U.S.-based IT decision makers participated. The study commissioned by GFI revealed a dramatic lack of adoption of email archiving. 62.4% of SMEs do not currently use a mail archiving solution - opening the door to a host of issues including: limited email backup and restore, which could lead to data loss; an inability to search for pertinent messages in the event of an audit or eDiscovery request – which could result in costly compliance violations or legal suits; strain on Exchange servers; and storage problems.

The economy continues to show increasing signs of self-sustaining momentum, however an unexpected jump in oil prices and the potential for further tightening of fiscal policy suggest less economic momentum than previously believed, according to the March 2011 Economic Outlook released by Fannie Mae's Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. Projected economic growth for the year was lowered to 3.5 percent – down slightly from 3.7 percent in February 2011, but up from 2.7 percent annual growth in 2010.

At EU level, the economic crisis resulted in a decrease in road and rail freight transport in 2008 and 2009, after several years of an upward trend. In the EU27, road freight transport was down by 10% in 2009, after a fall of 2% in 2008. Rail freight transport was down by 17% in 2009, after a drop of 2% in 2008.

While oil prices rise in response to unrest in oil producing nations and increased demand from growing nations, Americans continue to discuss and consider alternative energy options and lifestyle changes amidst a slow economic recovery. Six in ten (61%) Americans describe themselves as knowledgeable about energy issues, including sources of electrical power and energy efficiency. This is relatively unchanged since 2009 when 59% of Americans described themselves as knowledgeable about energy issues.

As health care reform marks its one-year anniversary, a new Deloitte report reveals that consumers are spending $363 billion, or 14.7 percent more, on health care than traditionally reported in official government accounts. This spending falls outside of conventionally-counted health care costs such as doctors, prescriptions, hospitals and health insurance coverage. Demonstrating the significance of the amount consumers now spend on health care, the additional costs captured in the new Deloitte study support an increase in consumer discretionary spending on health care from 16.2 percent, for items traditionally reported by the government, to 19.9 percent, which surpasses housing and utility costs at 18.8 percent.

Nearly 13 million Americans aged 18 or older who are on social networking sites will accept any social media connection request from a member of the opposite sex, regardless of whether or not they know that person, according to a recent survey. The survey of 1,011 U.S. adults, of whom 387 have joined an online social networking site, conducted via telephone by Harris Interactive® on behalf of ID Analytics last month, also found that men on social networking sites are more than twice as likely as women to accept any and all invites from someone of the opposite sex (18 percent compared to seven percent for women).

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Germany increased 0.4 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.4 percent in January.

With signs of a strengthening U.S. economy evident in declining initial jobless claims, rising business and consumer confidence, and growing employment figures, the PwC Real Estate Barometer, a new feature in the just-released first quarter 2011 PwC Real Estate Investor Survey, indicates that the fundamentals of the commercial real estate industry are slowly improving and supports the consensus among surveyed investors that the industry is moving past the bottom of the cycle.

With analysts speculating that checking fees may soar, consumers face big decisions ahead. This month's Financial Security Index, released by Bankrate Inc., shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans say they would bolt over increased bank fees.