The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that U.S. retail and food services sales for February increased by 1.1 percent compared with January, and 4.6 percent compared with February 2012.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ JOLTS said that there were 3.7 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from the last business day of December.

The rush of U.S. bank failures that began with the financial panic more than four years ago has crawled to a trickle.

In creating 236,000 jobs in February, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, the economy surprised on the upside, since some economists had fretted that the looming sequester might have made employers nervous.

The U.S. economy created 236,000 jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a considerable improvement over January, when 119,000 jobs were created, and compares favorably with the 2012 monthly average of 181,000 jobs created per month.

The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book, which said that “economic activity generally expanded at a modest to moderate pace since the previous Beige Book,” but—and this is a fairly large but—”many Districts noted rising gasoline prices and fiscal policy as having a negative effect on consumer sales.”

The parade of residential real estate revival numbers continues: CoreLogic reported on Tuesday that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year-over-year by 9.7 percent in January 2013.

Forbes magazine published its 27th annual list of billionaires on Monday, with most of the usual suspects populating the tip-top of the list, such as Mexican communication mogul Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the Koch brothers all making appearances, though they fluctuate in position from year to year.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that U.S. personal income took a hit in January. At $505.5 billion, income was down 3.6 percent for the month, the largest drop in about 20 years.