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Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace are currently 4.87 percent, up two basis points from 4.85 percent at this time last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rates hovered between 4.80 and 4.90 percent for most of the past week, peaking just above 4.90 percent on Sunday.

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending December 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Both components of compensation - wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation) and benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) - increased the same amount, 0.5 percent.

Online advertised vacancies rose by 382,000 to 4,024,000 in January, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series. The January rise follows a large 255,000 increase in December and a 107,000 rise in November.

While consumers appeared to be feeling better about the U.S. economy in January, media sentiment was at best mixed as the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the month remained flat at 38.8, up only very slightly from December's 38.7. This represents the second consecutive weak performance for the ESI after relatively strong gains in October and November. The ESI's weakness runs counter to stronger than expected increases in two leading consumer-based economic indicators.

As the economic recovery slowly continues, consumers would like to learn more about how to gain a solid financial footing. Specifically, they are asking their financial institutions how they can raise their credit scores, reduce debt and build their savings. That’s according to the results from a financial literacy survey Wolters Kluwer Financial Services conducted with 175 banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders in December 2009.

Half of U.S. oil and gas senior executives expect to increase employment this year and two-thirds believe that the recession burdening 2009 will end this year, according to Grant Thornton LLP’s eighth annual Survey of Upstream U.S. Energy Companies.

Although the new regulations governing 403(b) defined contribution retirement plans are already in effect, many retirement plan sponsors admit to not fully understanding compliance requirements, according to a survey from the TIAA-CREF Institute.

As Chief Financial Officers emerge from the ups and downs of 2009 and shift to a new decade, they reveal a continued up-tick of optimism toward both the U.S. economy and their own companies. According to findings from the fourth quarter "CFO Outlook Survey" conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business, CFOs are looking up, but remain committed to utilizing some of the important lessons learned during the downturn and keeping companies streamlined. Their views on staffing are mixed. In exploring what steps companies are currently taking toward environmental responsibility, the survey uncovered varying drivers behind those actions.

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell for the fourth consecutive week, settling at 5.13 percent according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.49 discount and origination points.

Employers took 1,726 mass layoff actions in December that resulted in the separation of 153,127 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in December decreased by 87 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 10,696. Both figures reached their lowest level since July 2008. In December, 433 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,072 initial claims. Both figures decreased over the month to their lowest levels since November and August 2007, respectively.