The US economy strengthened considerably in December, leading the global economic recovery and leaving Europe and Japan behind
For the 30-nation membership of the OECD, the December leading indicator - a pointer of future economic activity - rose to 123.6 from 122.8 in November. The reading for the US was 133.3 (up from 131.7), the 12-nation euro currency zone struggled up to 123.8 (from 123.5), and Japan managed a weak increase of 0.2 to 102.3. Of the G7 economies, only Italy showed weaker development, its index slipping to 106.3 in December from 107.8 in November.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/stor ... 14,00.html
and for the Germans....
[/quote]Government Accused of Fixing Unemployment Statistics
New labor market statistics seem to buoy the German government's claims that things are getting better. But labor market experts and the opposition aren't convinced, and are accusing the government of fixing the numbers.
The January numbers, released on Thursday by the Federal Labor Agency continue to show an increase in unemployment - from 10.4 to 11 percent. But the government agency said that the increase in the number of jobless was lower than this period last year and the year before..
If We had 11% unemployment there would be riots....
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1 ... .html[url]