High Desert Business Journal

FOR THE WATER COOLER Despite the new technology to increase productivity, the average number of annual hours worked per worker has dropped by just 200 hours in the U.S. since 1950, compared with drops of 991 hours in Germany, 684 hours in France and 540 hours in the U.K. -The Atlantic Sales of plus-size clothing are expected to jump 5.2 percent annually in the next five years, hitting $9.7 billion in retail sales by 2017, up from $6.6 billion in 2009.

-The Wall Street Journal Fewer than one in 10 executives and employees achieves “complete relaxation” while on vacation, while 58 percent achieve no stress relief and 27 percent report feeling more stressed when vacations end than when they begin.

-CSMonitor.com President Barack Obama is only the fifth president to see the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index double on his watch. The others were Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

-New York Times Mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in four out of every 10 American households with children, according to a new survey. While 51 percent of Americans said they believe children are better off when a mother stays at home with children, 79 percent rejected the idea that women should return to “traditional roles.”

-CNN.com