Rich to shop early, may skew Black Friday sales

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wealthier Americans are expected to jump right into holiday shopping this week, but unemployed U.S. consumers will sit out the early part of the season, suggesting solid Black Friday results could be deceiving, according to a survey released on Monday. The highest income households, or those earning $150,000 or more, plan to get an early start on their shopping, according to the survey by Consumer Edge Research.

U.S. cities grapple for new jobs in economic upswing

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a depressed neighborhood in the City of Angels, hundreds of good jobs appeared to fall from the sky last week. Young and middle-aged Los Angeles residents, mostly blacks and Hispanics, lined up down the block at an employment office for more than 600 jobs, paying $14 an hour and higher with free healthcare, at new JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels downtown.

N.Y. top court rules for state in Atlantic Yards case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York State lawfully seized land needed for the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the state's highest court ruled on Tuesday. The project, which includes plans to build a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets alongside office and apartment buildings, has been repeatedly delayed by lawsuits and financing problems.

Cribs recalled in U.S., Canada over safety concerns

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc is voluntarily recalling more than 2.1 million baby cribs in the United States and Canada due to a potential suffocation hazard, U.S. safety officials said on Monday. Four suffocation deaths related to cribs with drop-down sides made by the Canadian company have been reported in the United States, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement announcing the recall.

Consumer drug ads drive up health costs: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - When consumer advertising began for the popular blood-thinner Plavix, Medicaid insurance programs for the poor and disabled spent millions more on the drug, even though the ads did not tempt doctors to write more prescriptions, researchers reported on Monday. They said the study suggested that while ads might not directly increase the number of prescriptions, they still affect the cost of publicly funded healthcare because drugmakers appear to build the cost of the ads into their prices.

57 million U.S. consumers ready to shop this weekend