Mary Dooe

The economy continues to add jobs, but not fast enough to make campaigning easy for President Obama. The government is about to reveal how many hours people work on average each week. Many businesses aren't happy about a move to start registering an expanded number of web suffixes next week. Alternative sentencing through special problem-solving courts is better for the job prospects and earning potential of offenders.

Boeing will close a military aircraft factory in Wichita, Kansas, laying off 2,000 workers over two years. The European Union could soon begin cracking down on how online companies use personal data. Shares of Netflix soared yesterday after data showed that users watched over 2 billion hours of TV and movies last quarter. And in this week's Attitude Check with Gallup, we look at the extent to which the 2012 election will focus on economic issues.

Today was a day of new directions for Internet giant Yahoo!, which named a new CEO. And President Obama is expected to appoint a new top cop for protecting consumers. Meanwhile today, the low-calorie, natural sweetener Stevia got the green light to be sold in Europe; Italy said it will allow 24-hour businesses; U.S. car sales look good in 2012; and more headlines from the GOP campaign trail.

Today's Iowa caucuses mark the start of the 2012 election season. While the car brand Cadillac is expecting a strong year ahead, with a focus on becoming a global brand -- but Ford's Lincoln isn't going to be quite so lucky. Manufacturing hiring is finally picking up, but this time around companies are looking for more skilled workers. And Steve Chiotakis heads to the junk yard with Paddy Hirsch to understand junk bonds.

The change of leadership over the weekend at IBM puts a fresh spotlight on the ongoing struggle women face landing top corporate jobs. The University of North Alabama has decided to spend $3.4 million to jump up to the NCAA's Division I. Will the sports move help or hinder other students?

States could expand lotteries and start new games like online poker thanks to a new ruling that allows Internet gambling. The Times Square celebration brings in a worldwide audience and millions of tourist dollars to NYC every year. And now that U.S. troops have pulled out Iraq, turns out direct benefit for American oil companies never materialized.

As the Iowa caucuses approach, we look a little deeper at the economic policies of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. New York is threatening to strip some funding from struggling schools that don't install new systems for evaluating teachers. A hacker collective known as Anonymous stole credit card and other info from security firm Stratfor. And in today's Attitude Check, we look at how approval of Obama's economic policies stacks up to presidents of years past.

San Francisco has raised to the minimum wage to over $10 an hour, and that will effect the cities famed restaurants. On the other side of the country, negotiations will start today in New York between building owners and the union representing the people that clean those buildings. As the 10 year birthday of the euro approaches, David Brancaccio looks back at how Marketplace's resident poet described the deal at the time.

While a temporary deal has been reached in Washington, 2012 doesn't look much better in terms of bipartisanship. FedEx is set to raise its rates beginning in January. In Arizona, many non-industrial businesses are taking up space in warehouses.

In the U.S., Gross Domestic Product revisions are out today, and the hope is that the number will keep improving as long as problems in Europe, and Washington, don't stunt that growth. In one North Carolina town, local business play nice to help each other out during recession. The Lone Star State loses as many as half a billion trees in 2011, and that's not including the wildfires. And in this week's Attitude Check, we look at how Americans are really feeling about the potential payroll tax cut extension.