Retail and Business

The attitude of U.S. consumers is improving, Reuters reported.

Consumer sentiment was up to 74.2 in December from 71.6 in November, according to a preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment by Thomson …

Drake University journalism students on Thursday launched Urban Plains, an all-digital lifestyle magazine intended to promote the Midwest. Its digital format, which allows readers to consume videos, slideshows and audio clips on their mobile phones …

Children & Families of Iowa (CFI) announced today the three chairs who will head up the organization’s Building Futures Capital Campaign. Jeff Rommel with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Daniel Houston with Principal Financial Group Inc. …

Companies are in position to increase payrolls next year as revenue picks up, according to an annual survey of chief financial officers released today by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Forty-seven percent of CFOs said …

KCCI television will expand its weekend morning newscasts by two hours. The station, owned by Hearst Television Inc., will add an hour of news each weekend morning beginning at 5 a.m. As part of the …

U.S. employers anticipate making small staffing increases in the first quarter of 2011, according to a survey done by Manpower Inc., the world’s second-largest provider of temporary workers.

The group’s employment gauge for the first …

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has received the 2010 Merit Employer of the Year Award from the Des Moines National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The award is designed to recognize …

Nominations for the Better Business Bureau’s 2011 BBB Business of Integrity Awards are now being accepted.

Companies and nonprofit organizations are eligible, and five organizations will be selected in the Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and …

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased in November for the second consecutive month. The index now stands at 99, up from October’s revised figure of 97.6. The index is up 9.3 percent from a …