Don't blame yourself if you missed a few key things this week. Even with one eye on CNBC and the other on your Bloomberg terminal, it's likely you'd only remember the job announcements.
Unemployment declined to 8.5% from an upwardly revised 8.7% reading in November. Payrolls expanded by 200,000, topping estimates by 54,000.
At the same time, manufacturers added 23,000 new jobs, verse an expected increase of 6,000. Public sector layoffs also came in below forecasts, at 12,000 in December.
A day earlier initial claims beat economist predictions and Challenger layoffs fell to a six-month low for the same period.
But that wasn't all that happened.
Hungary teeters on the brink
The Hungarian government has announced it is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan after it failed to raise needed capital over several auctions. E.U. and IMF leaders have distanced themselves from Hungary after it passed a new law that could reduce the independence of Hungary's central bank. Yields on Hungary's 10-year debt have peaked over 11%, while the country's currency has fallen to an all-time low this week. Adding to the nation's woes, Fitch Ratings downgraded its debt obligations to junk on Friday.
German factory orders tumble
Factory orders in Germany fell at the greatest rate in three years, as the European economy continued to weigh on the nation's output. Orders fell 4.8% from October, well below expectations for a 1.8% decline. Two institutes that advise German Chancellor Angela Merkel revised 2012 forecasts lower for the country last month, with expectations for 0.5% GDP growth in the new year.
Home prices continue to decline in China
Chinese home prices declined for the fourth-straight month this week, falling an additional 0.25% in December. SouFun, China's largest real estate website, noted prices dipped in the ten largest provinces, including Shanghai and Beijing. At the same time, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo struck an ominous chord about the economy.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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