USA Today (10/11/12) Paul Davidson

The U.S. Federal Reserve released its beige book report on Oct. 10, indicating the economy grew modestly in late August and early September, with activity picking up in 10 of 12 districts. The job market was little changed despite a government report last week that said unemployment in September fell to 7.8% from 8.1%, according to a survey of households. Employment was flat or up slightly in the Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Dallas areas but weaker in New York and Chicago.

Uncertainty about looming tax increases and spending cuts, the presidential election, and the European financial crisis all restrained hiring, the report said. At the same time, employers in several areas said they were having trouble finding skilled employees. The report reflects an economy that most analysts believe grew at a tepid annual pace of 1.5% to 2% in the third quarter.

MarketWatch (10/11/12) Greg Robb

First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell sharply in the latest week to their lowest level since mid-February, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of initial claims in the week ending Oct. 6 fell 30,000 to 339,000. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to rise 1,000 to 368,000. The four-week average fell 11,500 to 364,000, the lowest level since late March. Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 6,000 to 369,000 compared with the initial estimate of a gain of 4,000 to 367,000.

Korn/Ferry International News Release (10/11/12)

Korn/Ferry International today announced that its computer network was the target of a criminal data security breach. Upon discovering this data security breach, the company took immediate steps to contain the impact of the breach and investigate its source. The company aggressively responded to this intrusion, and with the assistance of a leading digital risk management and investigations firm, has taken actions to remediate the data security breach and further enhance the security of its global network. The company is also working closely with law enforcement on this matter.

The information collected by Korn/Ferry’s investigation to date suggests that the intrusion falls in the category of an “advanced persistent threat,” which is activity consistent with state-sponsored cyber criminals who use highly sophisticated techniques and tools to access databases. The databases that were affected are not designed or structured to collect credit card, payment card, bank account, social security numbers, government identification numbers, or health information.