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The survey, commissioned by the ING Retirement Research Institute, confirmed that employer-sponsored retirement plans are incredibly important to the workers who participate in them, but most are not maximizing the savings power of these plans to their full potential. The research found that plan investors often fail to recognize the potential long-term benefits that even a small contribution rate increase can produce in helping them successfully reach their retirement goals.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor tells us that small businesses pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll and have generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years. Thus, the small business has long been touted as the job creation engine of our country.

Members of the small business community are primed for a big upshot as a result of Tuesday’s Congressional elections, with 62% believing the new Republican controlled House will have a favorable impact on small businesses overall. According to a survey by Manta, the Web’s largest free source of information on and for small businesses, 58% believe their own businesses will improve because of the election results.

The U.S. Monster Employment Index annual growth rate continued to be positive with a 13 percent increase year-over-year, although at a slower rate compared to early summer. The Index dropped two points (1 percent) on a monthly basis, as online job demand continued to fluctuate within a two-point margin for the fourth consecutive month.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 1.9 percent annual rate during the third quarter of 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Labor productivity, or output per hour, is calculated by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked by all persons, including employees, proprietors, and unpaid family workers. Output increased 3.0 percent and hours worked increased 1.1 percent in the third quarter. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) Productivity increased 2.5 percent over the last four quarters, as output rose 4.1 percent and hours worked rose 1.6 percent.

Unemployment rates were lower in September than a year earlier in 212 of the 372 metropolitan areas, higher in 143 areas, and unchanged in 17 areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Thirteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 10 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in September was 9.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted, compared with 9.5 percent a year earlier.

Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in October for the 10th consecutive month, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in the latest Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®.

A macro-economic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check. MasterCard SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard financial performance. SpendingPulse is provided by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide.

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending September 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The September report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 23.5 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 37.3 percent market share.

Online advertised vacancies rose 113,700 in October to 4,409,800, following an increase of 59,900 in September, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series. The nation’s Supply/Demand rate stood at 3.44 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in September (the last available unemployment data), a figure that is down from a peak of 4.73 in October 2009. Nationally, there are 10.5 million more unemployed than advertised vacancies.