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The Conference Board reports that the leading index for Japan decreased 0.7 percent, while the coincident index increased 0.3 percent in August.

There are more marketing channels aimed at consumers than ever. Yet more than three-quarters of consumers surveyed worldwide find that consumer opinions are the most effective form of advertising, according to a Nielsen study.

The European Central Bank (ECB) published its annual report on EU banking structures, prepared by the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The Committee comprises representatives of the national central banks and banking supervisory authorities of the European Union and the ECB.

Rising equity markets boosted the funded status of typical U.S. pension plans by 2.4 percent in September, according to BNY Mellon Asset Management. The asset management group, which tracks the health of the pension plans through its BNY Mellon Pension Liability Indexes, reported that assets of a moderate risk pension portfolio increased 2.6 percent in September, far outpacing the 0.2 percent rise in a typical plan's liabilities.

The results of the October 2007 bank lending survey which refer to the third quarter of 2007 indicate a net tightening of the credit standards for loans to enterprises (from a net easing of -3% in the second quarter of 2007 to 31% in the third quarter of 2007). This follows a long period of standards remaining basically unchanged or being slightly eased. The net tightening most likely reflects the worsening of global credit market conditions. In the third quarter of 2007, banks also reported a net tightening of credit standards for housing loans to households (from a net easing of -1% in the second quarter of 2007 to 12% in the third quarter of 2007), following a slight net easing in the previous quarter. Credit standards for consumer credit and other lending to households were eased slightly, compared with basically unchanged standards in the previous quarter.

India’s annual economic growth could reach a sustainable 10 percent and be spread more evenly across the country if it pursues ambitious and wide-ranging reforms, says a new OECD report.

The European Builders Confederation (EBC) is clearly opposed to all forms of undeclared work. Undeclared work creates a distortion of competition with companies exercising their activity in full compliance with the law. In addition such illegal employment undermines the viability of European social security systems by reducing available financial resources.

The U.S. health care sector has solid liquidity strength, and ongoing credit market volatility will not affect these issuers over the near term, according to a Fitch Ratings review.

Demand for temporary workers in the United States for the fourth quarter of 2007 is expected to fall approximately 3.9 percent over the same period in 2006, according to the newly launched Palmer Forecast.

The passenger vehicle market in China grew 26 percent in the first half of 2007 according to data released by R. L. Polk & Co. (Polk). Excluding vans and pick-up trucks, Polk forecasts an annual total registration volume of 4.7 million passenger vehicles by the end of 2007. The market's annual growth rate has been above 20 percent since 2004.