Headlines Discussed at LNWM’s Monday Morning Briefing

Week of Jan. 6 – 12, 2014

• U.S. unemployment dropped to 6.7% in 2013 (from almost 8% in 2012), mainly because more Americans stopped looking for work and therefore aren’t being counted as unemployed. Close to 63% of Americans were recently in the labor force (working or looking for work), a 35-year low.
• Eurozone unemployment remained at a record high 12.1% (as of Nov. 2013), unchanged since last April.
• World food prices fell 1.6% in 2013; now 8.8% off the 2011 peak.
• Janet Yellen was confirmed as Federal Reserve Chair by the U.S. Senate.
• Last year, 3,659 federal regulations were approved, but only 65 laws were passed; a ratio of 56:1

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