Labor/Economy

Greece hasn’t quite signed off on the conditions that would allow it to receive more bailout money and thus pay its near-term bills.

The U.S. economy not only added 243,000 jobs in January, which was a surprise to dismal scientists expecting something more dismal, but the growth turned out to be broad based, which was something of a surprise as well.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that 243,000 jobs were added to the economy in January–up unexpectedly from 203,000 in December.

Payroll specialist Automatic Data Processing Inc. kicked off the monthly parade of employment numbers on Wednesday by reporting that the U.S. private sector created a net of 170,000 jobs in January, down from the revised ADP figure for December of 292,000.

The recent modest upticks in residential property sales, at least for existing homes, haven’t translated to price increases in most U.S. housing markets, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Indices.

U.S. personal income grew 0.5 percent in December, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Monday.

The 2.8 percent annualized growth rate that the U.S. economy experienced during the fourth quarter of 2011 sounds good at first blush, but economists were quick to point out that growth during the quarter wasn’t unalloyed good news.