Households’ Economic Outlook Appears to Brighten; Shoppers are Tapping, Typing and Tweeting in the Store and Online NEW YORK, May 19, 2010 – Consumers are becoming confident about the economic recovery and their finances are on the mend, according to a new survey of consumer retail spending and trends from Deloitte. More than half (55 percent) of consumers think the economy has started to recover from the recession, and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) indicate their household financial situation is the same or better compared with a year ago. In addition, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of survey respondents said they are … Read more

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s Job Creation Index finds current job market conditions nationwide to be the best they have been since November 2008. Nationally, the Job Creation Index for April — based on 16,171 U.S. employees’ self-reports of hiring and firing activity at their workplaces — shows that employees’ perceptions improved to +5 — up 3 points from March, and 10 points better than a year ago. Despite its improvement in 2010, the Job Creation Index remains 17 points below its April 2008 level, meaning that job market conditions have a long way to go before they return to where … Read more

From USA Today: In this day and age, do you really need a business plan? After all, everyone’s in a hurry. In a world of 140 character tweets, can you really expect anyone to read a 30 page written business plan? Even if you’re courting investors, couldn’t you just send them a few slides and financial projections? The concept of developing a business plan has come under fire in recent years. People have challenged the necessity of creating one, even for the most complex businesses. I’ve heard successful entrepreneurs boast that they’ve raised millions for a venture without a business … Read more

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.), May 20, 2010 – Rather than making history for its deep recession and record unemployment, 2009 might instead be remembered as the year business startups reached their highest level in 14 years – even exceeding the number of startups during the peak 1999-2000 technology boom. According to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, a leading indicator of new-business creation in the United States, the number of new businesses created during the 2007–2009 recession years increased steadily year to year. In 2009, the 340 out of 100,000 adults who started businesses each month represent a 4 percent increase … Read more