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The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Spain declined 1.1 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) decreased 0.2 percent in November.

A survey from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management shows small companies (less than $5 million in revenue) believe the overall U.S. economy will continue to be sluggish, posting 1.87% Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.) growth over the next twelve months. Larger companies ($100+ million in annual revenue) have a slightly rosier picture forecasting a 2.14% increase to G.D.P. in 2011.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index ® (LEI) for Korea increased 0.7 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index ®(CEI) for Korea increased 0.6 percent in November.

Mortgage rates were mostly lower this week, except for the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which held at 4.94 percent according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.38 discount and origination points.

U.S. import prices rose 1.1 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, after increasing 1.5 percent in November and 1.1 percent in October. Import prices advanced 4.8 percent in 2010. The price index for U.S. exports increased 0.7 percent in December and 6.5 percent over the past year.

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 1.1 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. This advance followed increases of 0.8 percent in November and 0.4 percent in October and marks the sixth straight rise in finished goods prices. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved up 1.0 percent, and the crude goods index increased 4.0 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods advanced 4.0 percent in 2010 after climbing 4.3 percent in 2009.

Consumers report they are more optimistic, with sentiment numbers climbing to their highest level in more than two years, while Americans claims to be facing fewer financial difficulties than they did one year ago, according to the Consumer Reports Index for January.

The annual growth rate of the outstanding amount of debt securities issued by euro area residents increased from 3.2% in October 2010 to 4.3% in November. For the outstanding amount of quoted shares issued by euro area residents, the annual growth rate was 1.7% in November 2010, compared with 1.8% in October.

There were 3.2 million job openings on the last business day of November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The job openings rate was essentially unchanged over the month at 2.4 percent. Both the hires rate and the separations rate were little changed at 3.2 percent each in November. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and by geographic region.

From June 2009 to June 2010, employment declined in 192 of the 326 largest U.S. counties according to preliminary data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Yolo, Calif., and Marion, Fla., posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 3.7 percent each over the year, compared with a national job decrease of 0.2 percent. Within Yolo, the largest employment decline occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities, which lost 843 jobs over the year (-4.4 percent). In Marion, financial activities had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment, shedding 1,495 jobs (-27.1 percent). Elkhart, Ind., experienced the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a gain of 9.3 percent.