Labor/Economy

Just when things in the euro zone were getting a little too quiet, Standard & Poors proved the rumors true late on Friday by downgrading the sovereign-debt rating of nine euro-using countries at one go.

U.S. retail sales in December edged up only slightly compared with November, seeing an increase of 0.1 percent.

The Fed observed that activity in residential real estate markets largely held steady at very low levels, with the exception of increases in the construction of multifamily residences.

The Federal Reserve gave the U.S. Treasury $76.9 billion in profits in 2011, not quite as much as in 2010, but still a very high total by historical standards.

CoreLogic reported that whatever steam the U.S. job market seems to be experiencing (overstated or not), that momentum hasn’t budged the housing market just yet.

Presumably what the economy needs now is a continuous string of strong employment numbers months–a freight train’s worth of 200,000-plus increases lasting many months.

The unemployment rate dropped, and the apartment vacancies are at a 10-year low.