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The American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of Commerce (AmCham-China) released its 12th annual Business Climate Survey. The results reveal strong overall optimism in the Chinese economy among US business, coupled with concerns about trends in the regulatory environment.

Top U.S. companies made few changes to overall pay levels in 2009, despite a year of remarkable turbulence for executive pay, according to results from The Wall Street Journal/Hay Group 2009 CEO Compensation Study. The Wall Street Journal partnered with Hay Group for the third year on its annual study, which examines how large companies were compensated across all forms of pay in fiscal year 2009.

A renewed sense of optimism in hiring is revealed in CareerBuilder and USA TODAY's latest nationwide survey of employers. For the third consecutive quarter, more employers are projecting they will increase headcount in the next three months while fewer employers are expecting staff cuts.

Many factors influence government policy and, more specifically, politicians. Yet year after year, certain groups are seen as having too much power over these politicians and others as having too little. Four groups in particular are seen by strong majorities as having too much power and influence in Washington and there is a clear theme for these groups. Two are in business – big companies (87%) and banks and financial institutions (83%) while the two others are “Inside the Beltway” groups – PACs, or political action committees which give money to political candidates (83%) and political lobbyists (83%).

The outlook among U.S. small business owners for sales, profits and hiring has improved from record-low levels one year ago, but they remain skeptical about the U.S. economy's recovery, according to the PNC Economic Outlook survey's newest findings.

More than three-quarters of American companies polled in a survey released today by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai) say that the business environment in China has either improved or stayed the same over the past six months, calling into question recent media reports of a worsening business climate in China.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) had a monthly rise of one point in March, as employers continued to expand hiring efforts at the end of the first quarter. The annual growth rate in the MEI accelerated in March, with the current online demand level six percent above where it was a year ago.

Better-than-expected regional business news along with small improvements in several national economic measures provided enough bright spots in a month with decidedly mixed economic news to help drive the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) up in March to 39.4, a modest, but promising, increase from 38.1 in February.

While the economic downturn has affected employment and the way Americans manage their spending and saving, what hasn't changed is the level of retirement planning, or lack thereof. According to a new report from the Society of Actuaries (SOA), for both 2007 and 2009 almost one-third of pre-retirees (individuals currently in the workforce) stated that retirement will not really apply to them. Of this group of pre-retirees, 31 percent said they will be financially unable to retire, and 23 percent will choose to continue working. Both pre-retirees and retirees say they plan to prepare for retirement risks, but little has changed in how they are addressing the gaps in strategies, such as concerns with protecting inflation from outpacing savings or the risk of outliving their assets.

Roughly three-quarters of executives expect both commercial property values (76 percent) and asking rents (73 percent) to continue to fall in 2010, according to a recent online survey of more than 325 executives conducted by Deloitte.