Most of the economic news that came out this month wasn?EUR??,,????'???t too promising. Consumer Price Index lowered -0.7% in December 2008. Unemployment Rate for the month was 7.2%. The projected Payroll Employment went down -524,000, while the average hourly earnings gained a nickel per hour. Projections on the Producer Price Index was a lowering of -1.9%, while the Employment Cost Index rose +0.7%. Unemployment Initial (UI) Claims for the month were at 589,000. In the third quarter 2008 Productivity went up +1.3%, while the U.S. Import Price Index went down -4.2%.