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America’s small business owners remained cautious about the economy in February as they expect economic conditions to largely stay the same in the coming months, according to the Discover® Small Business WatchSM, which fell less than a point to 84.9 in February from 85.5 in January. The index is up 13 points over the mark of 71.9 registered in February 2009.

In 2009, nearly 1.5 billion nights were spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU27, a decrease of 5.1% compared with 2008, after an annual change of -0.2% in 2008 and +3.5% in 2007. The number of hotel nights spent by residents in their own country in 2009 fell by 1.6% and hotel nights spent by non-residents fell by 9.1%.

The 11th annual Online Fraud Report from CyberSource Corporation highlights significant shifts in global online sales and fraud management. This year's survey of eCommerce merchants shows that among U.S./Canadian merchants accepting international orders, 21% of their online orders came from abroad, up from 17% the year before and 8% in 2005. This steady growth is supported by dramatic progress in meeting the increased fraud challenge of international orders, with 50% lower fraud rates and 30% lower order rejection rates.

In December 2009, the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was higher than one quarter earlier in September 2009. This increase was due both to net issues of shares/units and increases in share/unit prices.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.6 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) remained unchanged in December.

In December 2009 the working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of EUR 1.9 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net inflows of EUR 44 billion (non-seasonally adjusted).

While the unemployment rate has started to show a slight decrease to 9.7%, and as companies appear to be shedding fewer jobs, there's increased belief that the worst of the recession is behind us and that the country is on the road to recovery. Tied to this movement, however, is heightened speculation that the year ahead may bring about a renewed "war for talent" and that the job market will start to see a shift in power from employer to employee. One of the key factors that could jumpstart this transition is employee attitudes towards their current jobs – that is, are American workers still in love with what they do or are they looking for a change?

The world's mobile worker population will pass the one billion mark this year and grow to nearly 1.2 billion people – more than a third of the world's workforce – by 2013. According to a new forecast from IDC, the most significant gains will be in the emerging economies of Asia/Pacific, where a strong economic recovery and new interest in unified communications will drive healthy growth in all aspects of mobility spending.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the January Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the index increased 2.6 percent before seasonal adjustment.

In observation of Black History Month and as we approach the 75th anniversary of the Social Security program, a new brief and recent poll show that support for strengthening Social Security is strong across racial and cultural groups. The brief, Tough Times Require Strong Social Security Benefits, released by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), presents detailed views on Social Security among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and White Americans.