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Small business employment continued to grow in March with employment up in all nine U.S. divisions. Hours worked continued to grow with wages remaining flat.

Data through January 2011, released by Standard & Poor's for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show further deceleration in the annual growth rates in 13 of the 20 MSAs and the 10- and 20-City Composites compared to the December 2010 report. The 10-City Composite was down 2.0% and the 20-City Composite fell 3.1% from their January 2010 levels. San Diego and Washington D.C. were the only two markets to record positive year-over-year changes. However, San Diego was up a scant 0.1%, while Washington DC posted a healthier +3.6% annual growth rate. The same 11 cities that had posted recent index level lows in December 2010, posted new lows in January.

Amid positive reports for unemployment and jobless claims, employee optimism about the job market continues to rise. Among full-time, part-time and/or self-employed adults, 40 percent say they believe it is "likely" they could find a new job matched to their experience and compensation levels within six months if they lost their current job – the highest level in six quarters, according to the Q1 Glassdoor.com® Employment Confidence Survey of 2,045 U.S. adults aged 18+ conducted on its behalf by Harris Interactive®. Approximately one-third (31 percent) say they are uncertain while 28 percent believe it is "unlikely" they would find a comparable job in the same period.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in February, declined in March. The Index now stands at 63.4 (1985=100), down from 72.0 in February. The Present Situation Index improved to 36.9 from 33.8. The Expectations Index decreased to 81.1 from 97.5 last month.

In the midst of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, and with millions of Americans unemployed or underemployed, a majority of employers are facing a major challenge recruiting employees with the skills, training and education their companies require.

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in February. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases, 7 states registered rate increases, and 16 states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia posted unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, 7 states reported increases, and 2 states had no change. The national jobless rate was 8.9 percent in February, little changed from January but 0.8 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

The arrival of spring brings not only warmer weather, but also spring cleaning and the undertaking of do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement projects. Much to the chagrin of home improvement stores, the DIY home improvement market has seen a 21% decline from 2005-2010 according to latest research from Mintel, and more than a quarter (28%) of DIYers say they would like to undertake a major renovation or addition to their home, but they just don't have the funds.

eBay Classifieds created a hot jobs map of America that shows which states in the US are the best to find employment. Reports show that 190,000 new jobs were created in February, and eBay Classifieds, who are all about helping people find jobs, show where these are.

In 2010, 12.4 percent of families included an unemployed person, up from 12.0 percent in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The proportion of families with an unemployed member in 2010 was at its highest level since the data series began in 1994. Of the nation's 78.2 million families, 80.0 percent had at least one employed member in 2010, down from 80.4 percent in 2009.

March new-vehicle retail sales are showing stability through the first three weeks of the month, continuing a trend of monthly double-digit year-over-year increases, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which gathers real-time transaction data from more than 8,900 retail franchisees throughout the United States.