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EU Member States must not only deliver on their international aid pledges, but also bring in a financial transactions tax and consider a possible temporary debt moratorium, to help developing countries to cope with the effects of the global financial and economic crisis, say MEPs in a resolution adopted on Thursday. At least 25% of the EU's CO2 emission trading revenue should be allocated to the fight against climate change in developing countries, they add.

In January 2010 compared with December 2009, the euro area (EA16) industrial new orders index fell by 2.0%. In December 2009 the index rose by 0.8%. In the EU27 new orders decreased by 0.2% in January 2010, after an increase of 0.9% in December 2009. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders fell by 1.3% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU27.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Germany increased 0.5 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) remained unchanged in January.

Forty-four percent of U.S. adults are "extremely worried" or "very worried" about paying for rising health-care costs. And the top reasons cited for those rising costs are profits generated by drug companies and health insurance companies.

Young people in OECD countries have been hit hard by the economic crisis. In Greece, the already high youth unemployment rate could rise further in the coming months, according to a new OECD report.

The enthusiasm for the markets voiced at the end of the year waned slightly as professional money manager bullishness declined for most equity asset classes and sectors in the latest Investment Manager Outlook, a quarterly survey of U.S. investment managers conducted by Russell Investments. Most notably, manager bullishness dropped 21 percentage points for non-U.S. (developed market) equities.

Americans are negative on the economy and markets even as stocks and growth indicators are up, according to the Bloomberg National Poll, a quarterly survey of Americans.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico increased 0.7 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.4 percent in January.

GSM subscriber growth, on an absolute basis, is slowly grinding to a halt. According to forecasts from ABI Research that growth is expected to flatline by mid-2011.

Employers took 1,570 mass layoff actions in February that resulted in the separation of 155,718 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in February fell by 191 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 26,543. Both events and initial claims have decreased in 5 out of the last 6 months. In February, 376 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 43,100 initial claims. Both figures declined over the month to their lowest levels since August 2007.