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With the ebb and flow of oil stocks buoyed to the lingering crisis in the Gulf, concerns about investing in oil companies continue to swell.

After peaking in 2009, overall customer satisfaction with insurance companies has declined significantly in 2010, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. National Auto Insurance Study(SM) released today. Overall customer satisfaction averages 777 on a 1,000-point scale, decreasing by 10 points from 2009.

As the U.S. economy continues to recover, TEKsystems has found that more organizations are feeling increasingly optimistic about their contingent hiring for the next quarter. While 23% of companies planned to increase their temporary IT hiring in the second quarter, 29% plan to do so in the third quarter. This increase reveals that there is a broader sense of optimism among a wider set of companies.

The majority (80%) of consumers with children in preschool through high school expect to spend more (39%) or the same (41%) per child on back to school shopping this year compared to last year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. The average family of four will spend $550 preparing for their kids’ return to the classroom, with clothing shoes and supplies as top expenditures. More surprising, given sharp declines in consumer confidence over the last two months, is that approximately half (45%) of parents have a range of cosmetic services on their back to school checklists, from haircuts and manicures to teeth whitening and, in a few cases, even tattoos.

The Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) has given an upbeat signal on the economy, registering its biggest rise since October and a return to the level of June 2008.

Online advertised vacancies rose 139,200 in July to 4,293,300 following a very small increase in June, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series released today. The gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies (supply/demand rate) stood at 3.52 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in June (the last available unemployment data) but is down from its peak of 4.73 in October 2009.

Uncertainty about the economic recovery has caused 61 percent of small business owners to delay their expectation of an economic rebound until 2011 or later, while over 18 percent feel a turnaround will happen in 2010 and 20 percent are unsure, according to the most recent Business Confidence Survey released today by Administaff (NYSE:ASF), a leading provider of human resources services for small and medium-sized businesses.

Small business employment grew slightly in July, but at a slower rate than in the past, while wages and hours worked by employees increased at a much faster pace.

As a result of a dampened outlook among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) declined for the third consecutive month in June. The RPI– a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 99.5 in June, down 0.3 percent from May and the lowest index level since February. In addition, the RPI stood below 100 for the second consecutive month, which signifies contraction in the index of key industry indicators.

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending June 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent while benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent.