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As Thanksgiving weekend officially kicks off the holiday season, one tradition that is returning this year is online shopping at the office. Cyber Monday, a term coined by the National Retail Federation for the first Monday after Thanksgiving, will likely be a busy day for Internet use at work. Twenty-nine percent of workers say they have holiday shopped online at work, on par with previous years. Of those planning to shop online this year, 27 percent will spend one hour or more. More than one-in-10 (13 percent) said they will spend two hours or more. Workers should be mindful of their companies' electronic communications policies, though, as nearly half (47 percent) of companies said that they monitor Internet and e-mail use of employees. This year's survey included more than 2,400 employers and more than 3,100 workers.

With the Congressional elections in his rear view mirror, President Obama looks ahead to working with a Republican House of Representatives with a positive job approval rating of 38% and a negative rating of 62%. This is not much different than where his ratings stood right before the election when 37% of Americans gave him positive ratings and 63% gave him negative marks for overall job he was doing.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Germany increased 0.3 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) decreased 0.3 percent in September.

The information technology industry is set to grow by 3-4% in 2010, having declined by 6% in 2009. Growth will exceed 4% in 2011 but a return to pre-crisis levels of growth remains unlikely, according to a new OECD report.

Customer satisfaction rises again, but at a slower pace, according to the latest National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI UK) results. The NCSI increases for the fourth straight quarter, up just 0.1% to 73.8 on the 0-100 Index scale. Customer satisfaction improves for banks, credit card providers and mortgage lenders, but declines for home and motor insurance companies.

The number of shoppers who say they expect to spend less this holiday season has fallen 10 percentage points from this time last year, according to early data from the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor. The news, coupled with increased spending intentions on the part of younger and more affluent consumers, may signal happier holidays for retailers this season.

Stores are decked for the holidays and television ads for the latest toys, gifts and gadgets have hit the air. As we inch closer to the holidays, over half of Americans (53%) say they are planning to purchase toys as gifts this year while two in five (40%) say they will not purchase toys and 7% are not sure. As might be expected, almost three-quarters of those in a household with children (73%) say they will purchase toys as gifts this year.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.8 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.2 percent in September.

While shoppers are looking for the hottest deals from online retailers to kick off their holiday shopping, cybercriminals are also looking to "score big" – by stealing shoppers' personal and financial information. This year, cyber thieves got off to an early start and Norton expects them to continue their nefarious holiday scams.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area grew by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2010. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of growth, but is down on the 0.9% recorded in the second quarter.