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Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 0.9 percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, with output and hours rising 2.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) The decline in output per hour follows five quarters of strong productivity growth. The second-quarter gain in hours worked was the largest since the first quarter of 2006 when hours rose 4.1 percent. From the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010, both productivity and output increased 3.9 percent; hours were unchanged.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea remained unchanged and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea also remained unchanged in June.

I. The completion of real estate development

From January to July, the total investment in real estate development was 2,386.5 billion yuan, up by 37.2 percent year-on-year. Of which, investment in commercial residential buildings reached 1,670.9 billion yuan, 34.5 percent of increase year-on-year, which occupied 70.0 percent of the investment in real estate development. In July, the completion of investment in real estate development was 411.8 billion yuan, increased 33.0 billion yuan year-on-year.

1. The industrial production realized steady growth.

In July, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up 13.4 percent year-on-year, or 0.3 percentage point lower than that in June 2010; in the first seven months of this year, it was up 17.0 percent year-on-year, which was down by 0.6 percentage point over that in the first half of 2010.

In a cross-country comparison of mobile data pricing, ABI Research found The United Kingdom, France and Indonesia to have among the lowest prices for mobile broadband plans. In Indonesia, a 4 GB data package for the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) costs as low as $17 monthly. Indonesia and other such developing countries are driving mobile Internet usage through the use of low-cost prepaid mobile broadband and Internet plans, driven by the popularity of BlackBerry and other such smart phones.

The computer and video game industry added nearly $5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009, according to a new study released today by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The study, Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report, also found that the entertainment software industry's real annual growth rate from 2005 to 2009 exceeded 10 percent, more than seven times the growth rate of the U.S. economy as a whole.

Although the Index only noted a mild increase in July, online job opportunities reached a 17-month high, suggesting ongoing improvement across Europe. In addition, the annual growth rate accelerated once again in July, with online worker demand now up 14 percent compared to year-earlier figures.

While many U.S. companies initially hoped they could preserve much of their existing group health plans under the new grandfather provision, a new survey by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, shows that almost all now believe they will not. Ninety percent of companies said they anticipate losing grandfathered status by 2014, with the majority expecting to do so in the next two years.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.K. increased 0.5 percent, and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.1 percent in June.

Spain, the country famed for lazy days in the sun, siesta, tapas, sangria and of course a World Cup winning football team, is the retirement destination of choice for workers in Europe, with one in four (25%) Europeans wishing to retire abroad identifying Spain as their preferred country according to a survey of over 7,500 European workers from Aon Consulting, the leading employee risk and benefits management firm.