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From September to December 2007, the number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 7.7 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 7.3 million, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Over this period, firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced a significant increase in their share of gross job gains (19.3 percent).

The slump in global commodity prices, led by oil and gold, is looking ominous for producers, and great for consumers and economies like China, India and the US and Europe.

The Conference Board announced that the leading index for Spain declined 0.4 percent and the coincident index decreased 0.1 percent in June.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) 13 members boosted their collective crude oil production by 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) in July to average 32.77 million b/d over the month, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials just released.

Education, prior work experience and financial backing are crucial factors in the success of entrepreneurs, according to a new book by Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb and funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

U.S. home values in the second quarter posted the largest year-over-year decline in the past 12 years, dropping 9.9 percent from the year-ago quarter and 1.7 percent from the first quarter to a U.S. Zillow Home Value Index (HVI) of $206,919, according to the Q2 Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. The median U.S. home value has not been this low since the fourth quarter of 2004, leaving nearly one-third (29.1%) of homeowners who purchased since 2003 with negative equity.

The Monster Employment Index UK decreased by three points in July to reach a level of 174, following a similar drop in June. This partly reflects a seasonal decrease in online recruitment activity during the early summer months, but also suggests loosening conditions in the jobs market.

Experian Automotive study finds hybrid car owners are more likely to buy another vehicle of the same make than buyers of any other vehicle class.

There was good news in July. The seemingly inexorable rise in prices of crude oil, wheat, rice, corn, and even some metals (copper especially) eased. After briefly going as high as $145/bbl, crude oil prices backed down to just under $120. Was this a temporary blip? Perhaps but more importantly, odds of the price hitting $200/bbl are certainly much lower now - even if this turns out to have been a brief respite. And whether prices stay down or go back up, more tires will remain inflated (said to help achieve better mileage), fewer miles will be driven, and some consumers have switched to mass transit and may not return to basic driving (getting to and from work or school or similar trips).

The Monster Employment Index France dropped in July by two points but remained up nine points or five percent on last year's figures. Production, manufacturing, maintenance and repair, saw the biggest drop in availability of online jobs compared to last month with a 10 percent reduction.