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The new frontier in online retailing lies across international borders as U.S. companies attempt to capitalize on the growing demands of foreign consumers. According to the State of Retailing Online 2010: Key Metrics, Multichannel and Global Strategies Report, conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. for Shop.org, nearly three-quarters (73%) of retailers surveyed are already sending merchandise abroad from their home country’s distribution center, with an additional 17 percent having an established foreign warehouse in place. On average, retailers in the U.S. who ship abroad report that approximately five percent of their revenue comes from foreign orders.

Mercer’s Outsourcing business announced results from its annual, nationally representative Mercer Workplace Survey, which revealed that while employer-sponsored benefit plan participants are optimistic about the direction of the US economy, they are still not confident in their own situation. This divergence in attitudes is the first of its kind since the launch of the Survey in 2003.

The value of EU27 exports to South Africa increased steadily from 11.8 billion euro in 2000 to a peak at 20.5 bn in 2007, and then fell to 16.0 bn in 2009. Imports rose from 14.7 bn in 2000 to a peak of 22.4 bn in 2008, and then fell to 14.9 bn in 2009.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 0.4 percent in August to 112.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.8 percent increase in July and a 0.5 percent increase in June.

A three-month slide in small business confidence ended in September, driven in part by fewer small business owners reporting cash flow issues than they did in August, according to the Discover® Small Business WatchSM. The monthly index rose from 73 in August to 73.8 in September after falling 14.4 points since May.

Nearly one-third of Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage because their credit scores are too low, making homeownership out of reach for many. This is according to an analysis of more than 25,000 loan quotes and purchase requests on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace during the first half of September.

The first of 78 million baby boomers turned sixty four years ago, and 2008 was supposed to see a huge number of retirements. But then the economy faltered, housing values plummeted, retirement portfolios shrank, and boomers who thought they had planned for financial security decided to postpone retirement for a few years. Now that those boomers are turning 64 and the economy is recovering, employers better start giving serious thought to the wave of retirements that is sure to come – if not this year, soon, predicts MRINetwork®, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organizations.

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare rose in August, reversing a more pessimistic outlook that had prevailed all year, according to a consumer sentiment index produced by Thomson Reuters.

Portugal has made major progress in modernising its economy over recent years but has been hit hard by the crisis, according to the OECD’s latest economic survey of the country.‬

The European Central Bank (ECB) is publishing the results of a survey entitled “Euro Money Market Survey 2010”, which highlights the main developments in the euro money market in the second quarter of 2010, in comparison with the second quarter of 2009.