rst six months of 2011, productivity fell largely because consumers cut back on spending in the face of higher food and gas prices. That slowed overall economic growth. Growth accelerated in the October-December quarter to a 2.8 percent annual rate. That spurred more hiring. Companies added an average of 137,000 jobs per month in the final three months of last year. That was below the third quarter's average but much higher than the 97,000 added in the April-June quarter. The average work week ticked up in the final three months of last year, to 34.4 hours. On Friday, the government reports on January hiring and unemployment,http://www.biring.cn/tlq/viewthread.php?tid=861727&extra=. Economists expect that companies added 155,000 net jobs, while the unemployment rate stayed at 8.5 percent unemployment for a second straight month. Companies found ways to produce more goods and services with fewer workers during the recession. Greater productivity helped them boost profits. But it also allowed them to hold back on hiring after companies slashed millions of jobs during the downturn. That can make higher productivity painful for workers in the short run. But productivity is important for raising living standards. Increases in productivity allow companies to pay workers more without being forced to boost the prices of their products, which can cause inflation Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,toms outlet, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download,http://www.fywtzx.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=988258.
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press NGONG, Kenya (AP) Anthony Omari earned the still-fresh 11-stitch scar that runs from his forehead to his upper lip in one of the noblest ways imaginable: By taking a machete to the face while defending an under-resourced Kenyan orphanage from attacking thieves. Young, traumatized orphans witnessed the assault, which split open Omari's face and soaked his clothes in blood. But thanks to a posting on an increasingly influential U,http://www.8090hi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=636501.S.-based social networking website, this story has a fairy tale ending that brings smiles of amazement and tears of gratitude to Omari, his mother who runs the orphanage and 21-year-old tech-savvy Penn State student Ben Hardwick. After Hardwick posted a picture of Omari and his zipper-like scar two days after the Jan. 23 attack, users of the website Reddit donated more than $80,tomsoutletsalecheap.com,000 to help upgrade the orphanage's defenses. More than 3,600 people donated from all 50 U.S. states and 46 countries Slovenia, Brunei and Estonia included,toms shoes. One donation came in from the USS Mount Whitney. Less than a week after the attack, new locks were bought, two night guards were hired, and more than a dozen construction workers were building a new fortified 8-foot fence around the orphanage, which houses 37 kids in two small houses. Since Christmas, the orphanage has suffered four attacks by thieves likely from a tin-shack