Menu

Car owners continue to hold onto their vehicles longer, planning to put more miles on them than in previous years, according to a survey of car owners conducted by AutoMD.com. And, the majority of car owners appear to be resisting changing this, with 58% saying a 'recovering' economy has not decreased the number of miles they plan to put on their current vehicle. Meanwhile, nearly 80% plan to put up to or over 50,000 more miles on their current vehicle than they put on their previous vehicle, indicating that extended vehicle ownership is a habit that is taking hold, regardless of any signs of recovery - and especially as economic challenges continue.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index®(LEI) for Japan decreased 0.4 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® increased 0.7 percent in May.

Americans say they expect the economy to get worse in the next year, and their recent behavior shows a buckling-down and cutting-back mentality, possibly in preparation for hard times ahead. Over three quarters of Americans have begun purchasing more generic brands to save money (67%), up from six in ten who said they did this in February (61%) and the highest number reporting doing so since the question was first asked two years ago.

Will escalating energy costs impact hiring in the back half of the year? Eighty-three percent of U.S. employers say no, according to CareerBuilder's 2011 Mid-Year Job Forecast. CareerBuilder's latest survey shows employers remain positive in their hiring expectations for the remainder of 2011 despite ongoing concerns over threats to economic growth. Nearly half of employers (47 percent) plan to hire new employees from July through December, up from 41 percent in 2010. The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from May 19 to June 8, 2011, included more than 2,600 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released an overview of Internet usage in Europe, showing 366.9 million unique visitors went online in May 2011 for an average of 26.8 hours per person. This study draws its data from comScore’s research panel, which measures Internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated under the European region and provides individual reporting on 18 markets. Among the reportable markets, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Turkey showed the highest average engagement with users from these markets spending an average of more than 30 hours online in the past month.

As the economy falters amid recent market volatility and mixed labor reports, second quarter employee confidence related to job security, pay raises and the job market has retreated to levels last seen in the height of the recession. At the same time, nearly one-third (30 percent) of employees report they are more satisfied in their jobs today than one year ago compared to 26 percent in the second quarter of 2010 although one in four (25 percent) say their satisfaction is "worse," according to the Q2 Glassdoor® Employment Confidence Survey of 2,203 U.S. adults aged 18+ conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive®.

The gap between the rich and the poor can be as wide within countries as across countries, with wealth and services generally concentrated in cities. In part this reflects differences in the performance of regions, as across OECD countries 10% of regions are responsible for some 40% of national GDP and employment.

Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in June for the 19th consecutive month, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in the latest Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®.

A new survey from Insite Security and IBOPE Zogby International found that the rich are more pessimistic than ever about the long term financial health of United States.

Small business jobs rose slightly in June as employers added 45,000 positions to their payrolls. Hours worked and compensation also both increased by 0.2 percent.