UNEMPLOYMENT

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, showing the U.S. economy ended the year with more momentum than previously thought.

Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. stunned the Japanese markets Thursday, announcing it expected to lose ¥100 billion ($1.3 billion) and lay off 10,000 employees globally next year. The view -- announced during the company's quarterly earnings release conference call -- was a wild swing from previous statements, where the company had set positive 2012 earnings guidance of ¥15 billion.

New orders for manufactured goods rose in December and a gauge of future business investment rebounded, while new claims for jobless benefits rose only moderately last week, suggesting the labor market was still healing.

Throughout all of Europe we have seen the rise in the polls of extreme right political parties.

Claims for jobless benefits in the third week of January rose after falling to the lowest level in nearly four years. However, overall trends suggest fewer layoffs and more hiring.

With worries about the debt crisis in Europe and high unemployment in the United States drawing the public's attention, the sliding value of corporate pension funds has largely gone unnoticed.

Below are highlights from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference following the Fed's policy meeting on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday the central bank was ready to offer the economy additional stimulus after it announced it would likely keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sought to calm fears that the Obama administration's bank reforms were hostile to the U.S. financial industry, saying on Wednesday the reforms were "tough where they need to be tough."

Concluding a two day meeting, the Fed released it's plans for monetary policy through 2014 today. Fed plans to keep the interest rate near zero through 2014.

Starbucks, the world's largest coffee-shop chain, is projected to report stronger fiscal first-quarter profit as sales of new offerings have offset higher costs for coffee beans.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery.

Top 10 Most Surprising Statements from Obama’s Speech

If you listened to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday evening, you may have been confused. The rosy picture he painted of America as a thriving, secure, prosperous, and upwardly mobile nation doesn’t match reality, as you and I know it. In fact, Obama’s reckless deficit spending has taken this country to the edge of financial collapse, leaving us jobless, economically stagnant, lacking in innovation, and weak in our national defenses.

Those on more than $1m a year would pay at least 30% and their tax deductions would be eliminated under Obama's plan.

President Barack Obama Tuesday used his 2012 state of the union address to the American people and Congress to propose initiatives to create jobs, help companies increase their U.S.-based operations, and help Americans learn the skills they need to succeed in the modern/postmodern global economy.

The White House released the State of the Union 2012 official special guest list Tuesday afternoon, and the people who have been invited represent different visions of the American Dream.

Europe's debt crisis could tip the world economy into recession and a bigger firewall is urgently needed to keep the damage from spreading, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve is expected to break new ground this week by providing a clearer window into official thinking on monetary policy and is expected to signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014.

Is his state of the union address Tuesday night, look for President Barack Obama to outline the role public policy can play in addressing the nation’s No. 1 problem: its high 8.5 percent unemployment rate and shortage of at least 10 million jobs.

The Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end with a signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014.