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As Generation Y grows up and gains more buying power, the 18- to 34-year-old age group is increasingly purchasing luxury goods. According to a survey by American Express Business Insights, Gen Y consumers upped spending on premium, full-priced luxury goods by 31% in 2011 over the prior year. Generation X followed Gen Y in terms of spending growth - climbing 23% from 2010.

The Producer Price Index for finished goods advanced 0.1 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Prices for finished goods declined 0.1 percent in December and moved up 0.2 percent in November. At the earlier stages of processing, the index for intermediate goods fell 0.4 percent in January, and crude goods prices increased 1.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the finished goods index advanced 4.1 percent for the 12 months ended January 2012, the smallest year-over-year rise since a 3.6-percent increase in January 2011.

U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, after ticking down 0.1 percent in December. Higher prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports contributed to the January increase. Prices for U.S. exports also advanced in January, rising 0.2 percent following a 0.5 percent decline the previous month.

Online advertised vacancies rose 61,300 in January to 4,383,400, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series. Nationally, there are 8.8 million more unemployed than advertised vacancies and the Supply/Demand rate stands at 3 unemployed for every vacancy.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.4 percent in December to 94.3 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in November and a 0.6 percent increase in October. This month’s data inaugurates a number of major changes to the components and calculation of the LEI.

The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence™, which had declined in the third quarter, improved in the last quarter of 2011. The Measure now reads 49, up from 42 in the previous quarter (a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses).

Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2012 National Real Estate Forecast, which predicts a year of slow but continued growth for all commercial real estate property sectors.

comScore reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 56 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $35.3 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (ending Dec. 25) witnessed $2.8 billion in spending, an increase of 16 percent versus the corresponding week last year.

Employers expect to add new jobs in the New Year, but are waiting to see how the economy shapes up before turning up the volume on hiring, according to CareerBuilder's annual job forecast. Nearly one-in-four hiring managers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2012, similar to 2011. Employment trends among small businesses, which account for the majority of job creation in the U.S., are expected to show some improvement over last year. The nationwide survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from November 9 to December 5, 2011, included more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

2012 will be another turbulent year for the U.S. IPO market, according to a new survey of American transaction attorneys conducted by KCSA Strategic Communications, a leading integrated communications firm specializing in financial public relations, investor relations, social media and creative marketing services.