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With mobile penetration in the US estimated by eMarketer at nearly 80% this year, and the increasing sophistication of handsets, there is a mature mobile market with a critical mass of users increasingly receptive to marketing and content. As the space becomes more important for marketers’ efforts, they must keep pace with the changing scene.

Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, released a report demonstrating how small and large businesses work together to help each other and to strengthen the U.S. economy. The study found that, on average, each large U.S. corporation purchases more than $3 billion worth of goods and services from American small businesses. Collectively, these large firms generate an estimated $1.5 trillion in sales for small businesses annually.

Amid continued trepidation about the health of our nation’s economy, retailers and suppliers believe consumer spending is better than last year and gradually making a comeback. According to the second annual retail outlook study released by CIT Group Inc., a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies, 65% of retailers and 69% of suppliers believe consumer spending may return to 2007 levels by the end of 2011.

CIOs, CTOs and senior IT executives from 172 U.S. companies cite business productivity and cost reduction as their top business concern according to the 2010 IT Industry Trend Survey, commissioned by the Society for Information Management.

Americans’ attitudes, ambitions and preparation for retirement have changed dramatically as a result of the recession. Five years after introducing the stages of retirement, Ameriprise Financial revisited its groundbreaking New Retirement Mindscape® study to see how consumers’ journey to and through retirement has changed. The findings underscore the substantial emotional impact the difficult economic environment has had on people, especially those who are approaching retirement or who have retired within the past year. In fact, the economy’s impact has been so severe that a new stage has emerged and another has been renamed.

An AARP report released for the first time paints a picture of the struggles lower-income older adults are facing during the recession. The AARP Closer Look June 2010 survey found that nearly six in 10 Americans 45+ who make less than $25,000 a year say they are either "not at all" or "not too" confident they will have enough money to pay medical and living expenses in retirement, compared to 36 percent of higher income adults.

The average person born in the latter years of the baby boom held 11 jobs from age 18 to age 44, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. More than three-fifths of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27.

Chief information officers (CIOs) expect a modest increase in hiring in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Nine percent of chief information officers (CIOs) plan to add information technology (IT) staff and 6 percent foresee cutbacks before the end of the year. The net 3 percent increase in hiring activity is down three points from the prior quarter's forecast, but up three points from this time last year.

Older web users are flocking to social networks, according to a May 2010 Pew Internet & American Life Project survey. Usage among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled during the past year, from 22% to 42%.

Mortgage rates moved higher this week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbing to 4.58 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.37 discount and origination points.