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NFL's Goodell: no brain damage cover-up in football

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Football League, in remarks before the Super Bowl on Sunday, defended his organization's efforts to make the game safer and flatly denied an allegation that it had deliberately covered up the risks of head injuries in the sport.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," said there had been no effort by the NFL to hide the dangers of brain damage in football, as claimed in a lawsuit by the family of an NFL player who killed himself last year.

"In fact, we're all learning more about brain injuries, and the NFL has led the way," Goodell said in an interview that took place in New Orleans, where the Baltimore Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl later on Sunday.

The sport, which celebrates the ferocity with which players deliver heavy 'hits' to tackle and block each another, is under fire over safety and faces lawsuits from former players that could cost the League hundreds of millions of dollars.

The debate has even reached the White House, where President Barack Obama last week suggested the game make changes to reduce the level of violence, even if that made it less exciting.

Obama, a football fan himself, told the New Republic magazine that if he had a son, he would have had to "think long and hard" before allowing him to play the game. The comment by Obama, who has two daughters, has resonated with parents across the country.

The family of former football star Junior Seau sued the NFL in January, saying brain damage that he suffered during 20 years in the NFL had led to his suicide, and that the league had long concealed the neurological risks in the game.

A study by independent researchers found that Seau, 43, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE - the same debilitating brain disease diagnosed in at least two other former NFL players who committed suicide.

Goodell said the NFL had led the sporting industry in studying the risks of brain damage, and highlighted the millions of dollars it had committed to research.

"We started a concussion committee back in the mid-1990s with the players association to study these issues and to advance science," Goodell said. "We're obviously learning more and more and we're investing more and more, and I think that is going to lead to answers."

In addition to the lawsuit filed by Seau's family, which claims fraud, negligence and wrongful death, the league was sued last year in federal court by some 2000 former NFL players.

Bob Costas, a veteran NBC sportscaster, told NBC's "Meet the Press" program on Sunday that the lawsuits could eventually cost the NFL up to $1 billion in damages.

"I like football despite its violence, a lot of people like it because of the violence," Costas said. "The way football is currently played in the NFL is fundamentally unsustainable."

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nfls-goodell-no-brain-damage-cover-football-173807684--nfl.html

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DNA reveals mating patterns of critically endangered sea turtle

Feb. 4, 2013 ? New University of East Anglia research into the mating habits of a critically endangered sea turtle will help conservationists understand more about its mating patterns.

Research published February 3 in Molecular Ecology shows that female hawksbill turtles mate at the beginning of the season and store sperm for up to 75 days to use when laying multiple nests on the beach.

It also reveals that these turtles are mainly monogamous and don't tend to re-mate during the season.

Because the turtles live underwater, and often far out to sea, little has been understood about their breeding habits until now. The breakthrough was made by studying DNA samples taken from turtles on Cousine Island in the Seychelles.

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) was listed as critically endangered in 1996 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), largely due to a dramatic reduction in their numbers driven by the international trade in tortoiseshell as a decorative material -- an activity which was banned in the same year.

The Seychelles are home to the largest remaining population of hawksbill turtles in the western Indian Ocean. Cousine Island is an important nesting ground for the hawksbill and has a long running turtle monitoring program. It is hoped that the research will help focus conservation efforts in future.

Lead researcher Dr David Richardson, from UEA's school of Biological Sciences, said: "We now know much more about the mating system of this critically endangered species. By looking at DNA samples from female turtles and their offspring, we can identify and count the number of breeding males involved. This would otherwise be impossible from observation alone because they live and mate in the water, often far out to sea.

"We now know that female turtles mate at the beginning of the season -- probably before migrating to the nesting beaches. They then store sperm from that mating to use over the next couple of months when laying multiple nests.

"Our research also shows that, unlike in many other species, the females normally mate with just one male, they rarely re-mate within a season and they do not seem to be selecting specific 'better quality' males to mate with.

"Understanding more about when and where they are mating is important because it will help conservationists target areas to focus their efforts on.

"It also lets us calculate how many different males contribute to the next generation of turtles, as well as giving an idea of how many adult males are out there, which we never see because they live out in the ocean.

"Perhaps most importantly, it gives us a measure of how genetically viable the population is -- despite all the hunting of this beautiful and enigmatic species over the last 100 years.

"The good news is that each female is pairing up with a different male -- which suggests that there are plenty of males out there. This may be why we still see high levels of genetic variation in the population, which is crucial for its long term survival .This endangered species does seem to be doing well in the Seychelles at least."

Lead author Karl Phillips, a PhD student in UEA's school of Biological Sciences, added: "This is an excellent example of how studying DNA can reveal previously unknown aspects of species' life histories."

The research was funded by UEA and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Biomolecular Analysis Facility (NBAF).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of East Anglia, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. David S. Richardson, Karl P. Phillips, and Tove H.Jorgensen (all UEA) and Kevin G. Jolliffe, San-Marie Jolliffe and Jock Henwood (Cousine Island). Reconstructing paternal genotypes to infer patterns of sperm storage and sexual selection in the hawksbill turtle. Molecular Ecology, Feb 4, 2013

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/KttOog3Zo3c/130203212417.htm

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Highest Earning Stars in movies(2012) and Income Tax given by ...

Highest Earning Stars in Bollywood

Forbes India recently released the ?Celebrity 100? list. Along with it, they also released an estimation of how much a particular celebrity earned in the period between October 2011 and September 2012.

It was Shahrukh Khan, with 23 brand endorsements, who topped the Highest Earning stars list with Rs 202.83 crores in a year. SRK was followed by Akshay Kumar (179.95 crores), Salman Khan (144.2 crores), cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni (135.16 crores) and Amitabh Bachchan (116.3 crores).

Full list of the Top 100 Highest earning stars, below. Bollywood stars highlighted in brown.

• 1. Shahrukh Khan ? 202.83 crores
• 2. Akshay Kumar ? 179.85 crores
• 3. Salman Khan ? 144.2 crores
• 4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni ? 135.16 crores
• 5. Amitabh Bachchan ? 116.3 crores
• 6. Sachin Tendulkar ? 97.46 crores
• 7. Kareena Kapoor ? 73.47 crores
• 8. Ranbir Kapoor ? 71.17 crores
• 9. Hrithik Roshan ? 68.67 crores
• 10. Katrina Kaif ? 65.25 crores
• 11. Saif Ali Khan ? 64.17 crores
• 12. Ajay Devgn ? 54.65 crores
• 13. Virat Kohli ? 47.27 crores
• 14. Aamir Khan ? 42.5 crores
• 15. Mahesh Babu ? 42.25 crores
• 16. Priyanka Chopra ? 39.67 crores
• 17. Vijay ? 38.46 crores
• 18. Suriya ? 35.75 crores
• 19. John Abraham ? 34.6 crores
• 20. A R Rahman ? 32.92 crores
• 21. Virender Sehwag ? 27.73 crores
• 22. Gautam Gambhir ? 26.94 crores
• 23. Bipasha Basu ? 26.83 crores
• 24. Pawan Kalyan ? 26.33 crores
• 25. Emraan Hashmi ? 26.12 crores
• 26. Deepika Padukone ? 25.65 crores
• 27. Madhuri Dixit ? 23 crores
• 28. Anushka Sharma ? 21 crores
• 29. Vikram ? 20.45 crores
• 30. Abhishek Bachchan ? 19.4 crores
• 31. N T Rama Rao Jr ? 19 crores
• 32. Kajol ? 18.9 crores
• 33. Shahid Kapoor ? 18.35 crores
• 34. Farhan Akhtar ? 16.6 crores
• 35. Yuvraj Singh ? 16.14 crores
• 36. Sanjay Dutt ? 15.7 crores
• 37. Sonu Nigam ? 15.56 crores
• 38. Ravi Teja ? 15.5 crores
• 39. Imran Khan ? 14.85 crores
• 40. Arjun Rampal ? 14.75 crores
• 41. Ajith Kumar ? 14 crores
• 42. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ? 13.8 crores
• 43. Saina Nehwal ? 13.17 crores
• 44. Shilpa Shetty ? 12.6 crores
• 45. Jeev Milkha Singh ? 12.45 crores
• 46. Rohit Shetty ? 12.4 crores
• 47. Vidya Balan ? 12.32 crores
• 48. Rohit Sharma ? 12.23 crores
• 49. Viswanathan Anand ? 12.1 crores
• 50. Nagarjuna ? 11.79 crores
• 51. Karisma Kapoor ? 11.55 crores
• 52. Sonakshi Sinha ? 10.7 crores
• 53. Shreya Ghoshal ? 10.5 crores
• 54. Pritam ? 10.35 crores
• 55. Mithun Chakraborty ? 10.13 crores
• 56. Karan Johar ? 10 crores
• 57. Amish Tripathi ? 10 crores
• 58. Sunidhi Chauhan ? 9.81 crores
• 59. Genelia D?Souza Deshmukh ? 9.55 crores
• 60. Boman Irani ? 8.98 crores
• 61. Suresh Raina ? 8.94 crores
• 62. Rahul Dravid ? 8.31 crores
• 63. Imtiaz Ali ? 8.25 crores
• 64. Kangana Ranaut ? 8.2 crores
• 65. Vishal-Shekhar ? 8.2 crores
• 66. Harbhajan Singh ? 8.19 crores
• 67. Zaheer Khan ? 7.06 crores
• 68. Malaika Arora Khan ? 5.75 crores
• 69. Sukhwinder Singh ? 5.65 crores
• 70. Sania Mirza ? 5.3 crores
• 71. Ritesh Deshmukh ? 5.1 crores
• 72. Mohit Chauhan ? 4.93 crores
• 73. Sonam Kapoor ? 4.5 crores
• 74. Madhur Bhandarkar ? 4.5 crores
• 75. Leander Paes ? 4.41 crores
• 76. Preity Zinta ? 4.4 crores
• 77. Terrence Lewis ? 4.25 crores
• 78. Mahesh Bhupathi ? 4.06 crores
• 79. Ram Kapoor ? 3.5 crores
• 80. Remo D?Souza ? 3.5 crores
• 81. Sakshi Tanwar ? 3.45 crores
• 82. Mary Kom ? 3.32 crores
• 83. Chetan Bhagat ? 3.29 crores
• 84. Vijender Singh ? 3.2 crores
• 85. Shaan ? 3.08 crores
• 86. Gagan Narang ? 2.7 crores
• 87. Ronit Roy ? 2.63 crores
• 88. Sunny Leone ? 2.6 crores
• 89. Cyrus Broacha ? 2.55 crores
• 90. Rohan Bopanna ? 2.29 crores
• 91. Kapil Sharma ? 2.25 crores
• 92. Mona Singh ? 2.25 crores
• 93. Kailash Kher ? 2.23 crores
• 94. Anurag Kashyap ? 1.75 crores
• 95. Vir Das ? 1.6 crores
• 96. Kirron Kher ? 1.55 crores
• 97. Ashwin Sanghi ? 0.98 crores
• 90. Esha Gupta ? 0.94 crores
• 99. Robin Sharma ? 0.45 crores
• 100. Ravinder Singh ? 0.42 crores

Source: Forbes India

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http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/highest-earning-stars-in-bollywood/

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II. Income Tax given by Top Bollywood Actors in last 5 years(2008-2012)

Note?Financial year 2012-2013 is not ended will end on 31st march 2013.!!

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Income Tax in Financial year

2010-2011

and

2011-2012

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Another financial year ended on March 31, 2012. Unlike others, our celebs have also paid their taxes but the million dollar curiosity question arises that who is the highest tax payer among them. A recent Hindustan Times report showed that Akshay Kumar has retained his position of paying the highest amount of tax in Bollywood. Find out what other Bollywood celebs have paid in taxes -
1. Akshay Kumar
Tax Paid ? 20 Crore
?Khiladi? Akshay Kumar leads the star brigade by paying 20 crore in taxes in 2011-12 and 2010-11 as well. He did three major movies this year namely ?Patiala House,? ?Desi Boyz? and ?Thank You.? He also co-produced these movies. Akshay says, ?It feels good and privileged to be the highest tax payer. It is also a greater sense of responsibility.?
2. Sharukh Khan
Tax Paid ? 10 Crore
No list is ever complete without the presence of ?King Khan.? Sharukh Khan has paid 10 crore in taxes this financial year. He has always been a diligent tax payer. This tax amount is nearly 55 percent less than his last year?s tax as he paid an amount of 18 crore in the financial year 2010-11.
3. Salman Khan
Tax Paid ? 10 Crore
Bollywood superstar and arch rival of SRK, Salman Khan, has paid a tax of 10 crore in 2011-12. He retained his tax amount as he paid the same on 2010-11. He had two big hits last year ? ?Ready? and ?Bodyguard.?

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Read more at???? http://www.siliconindia.com/finance/news/Akshay-Shahrukh-Mumbais-Highest-Tax-Payers-nid-112680.html

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Income Tax in Financial year 2009-2010

1.Akshay Kumar lived up to his image of being the highest tax payer in Bollywood for second year in a row. Akshay paid an advance tax of Rs 9 crore in March, 2010, taking his total advance tax payment in the current financial year to Rs 18 crore. He paid Rs 31 crore in 2008-09.

2.With a tax payment of Rs 12 crore, Aamir Khan stands next in the ladder.

Income Tax in Financial year 2008-2009

NEW DELHI: Singh is definitely king. At least for the taxman. Filmstar Akshay Kumar has emerged as the top taxpayer in Bollywood for 2008-09, narrowly pipping Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) to the numero uno position.

Kumar paid a total advance tax of Rs 31 crore in the financial year against Rs 12.5 crore in 2007-08, a whopping 148% more than what he paid in the previous financial year, thanks to his recent box office hits. That means Kumar?s total earnings for the period were a tad above Rs 100 crore!

Read more at????? http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-04-15/news/28382327_1_top-taxpayer-advance-tax-tax-payout

Source: http://www.naachgaana.com/2013/02/03/highest-earning-stars-in-movies2012-and-income-tax-given-by-top-bollywood-actors-in-last-5years2008-2012/

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The Endearing Homes

Hotels near International Drive
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Econolodge Hotel near International Drive displays a perfect destination to enjoy the sun and the excellent amenities like elevators with Braille symbols, handicap parking facility on premises, copy and fax facility, business center with all business facilities, car rental desk, laundry facility, safe in the hotel, first aid facility and complimentary outside parking.
The peaceful satiety of the rooms at Econolodge Hotel keeps you spell bound and lures you into relaxation with all facilities including TV with satellite connection, local calling for free, iron/ iron board, complimentary internet facility, work desk, phone for disable guests and a homely ambiance. You can make your day more beautiful by staying at Econolodge Hotel near International Drive and visiting all area attractions: Congo River Golf, Seaworld and Walt Disney World.

Hotels in St. Michaels AZ
Let the rejoicing times be the longest and worries be obliterated when you cuddle in the endless comfort, peace and serenity at unique Navajoland Inn and Suites Hotel. Located in Navajo Nation, a few miles from Window rock, this beauteous hotel offers fun filled and sparkling destinations providing all adventures one wants, accompanied with a lively and fresh encounter with the famous St. Michaels. All quality services find home at the comely Navajoland Inn and Suites Hotel near St. Michaels AZ which include meeting/ banquet space and service, rooms/ facilities for disabled guests, complimentary parking outside, restaurant facility, fitness club, spa, ice machine, conference facility, guest laundry, pet allowance with a fee, Jacuzzi, wheelchair accessible rooms and facilities and a perfect arrangement of safety and security.
Embrace the colorful surroundings and experience the serene and ravishing rooms of Navajoland Inn and Suites Hotel near St. Michaels AZ which cuddle you with alarm clock radio, hairdryer machine, coffee making facility, heated pool inside, front desk service, TV, telephone with free calling and iron/ iron board. The area attractions around Navajoland Inn and Suites are St. Michaels- the beauteous place known for the yellow flower and grass that grow here; Navajo Nation Museum, Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.

Hotels near Orlando Convention Center
Experience your dreams coming true when you encounter the majestic property of Quality Suites Orlando which is a beautiful destination to give a new turn to your life showering all love and care. Located in Orlando, Florida, Quality Suites Hotel allows you to gather all awesome moments while you spend good times with your loved ones. This lodging is close to Orange County Convention Center which is a major name in the field of hospitality services offering events, parties and conventions.
Your delight will find place in the every moment you spend at Quality Suites Hotel near Orlando Convention Center which offers a perfect stay with complimentary breakfast, free internet access facility, coffee, complimentary parking outside, game arcade, copy and fax service, sun deck, sundry shop, hot tub and a warm guest service. The rooms at Quality Suites Hotel are beautifully designed with original works of art and provide all luxuries including stylish modern furniture, TV, microwave oven, hairdryer machine, refrigerator, iron with iron board and local calls for free. The area attractions close to Quality Suites Hotel are Orlando Convention Center, Walt Disney World and Seaworld.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-Endearing-Homes/4414476

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UBC Film student produces Hollywood animated feature | ArtsWIRE

While the challenge to juggle work and school is not unique to university students, few have been as industrious as UBC MFA Film Production student Luke Carroll has for the past three years.

Since 2009, Carroll has been trying to strike a balance between his commitments at grad school and producing what could be Hollywood?s next 3D animated blockbuster.

Escape From Planet Earth, scheduled for release on Feb. 14, comes from The Weinstein Company, the studio behind such films as Django Unchained, The King?s Speech and Inglorious Basterds. The 3D animated film, directed by Cal Brunker (Horton Hears a Who!), features the voice talents of Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, Jessica Alba, William Shatner and Sofia Vergara.

ArtsWIRE spoke with the 41-year-old Carroll about how he got attached to the star-studded feature, and how he managed to juggle a demanding production schedule with his academic commitments at UBC.

Q: What has your experience with the UBC Film Production program been like? When do you graduate???

Carroll: I have thoroughly enjoyed the program and would highly recommend it to others. Juggling a job and the program has been quite the challenge but it was the highlight of the week to be able to go up to the UBC campus and attend class. I especially enjoyed the writing classes with Maureen Medved (writing for film) and Maggie de Vries (writing for children) as well as a wonderfully dense screening and lecture series given by Mark Harris. There are so many incredible courses to choose from, my only regret is not being able to attend more of them!

Having started in 2006 it will be a delight and a pleasure to finally graduate in April 2013.

Q: What prompted you to pursue a career in animation?

Carroll: I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. After directing live action short films a friend offered me a chance to direct an episode of an animated television show at what was then Mainframe Entertainment, and now is Rainmaker Entertainment, the studio that produced Escape from Planet Earth. I really enjoyed the experience, and fortunately there were more projects available at the studio that ultimately led to producing Escape.

Q: How did you go about pursuing it?

Carroll: At the end of the day I was lucky and happened to know the right person at the right time to get my foot in the door. However to be given that opportunity I had to have something to show my abilities, so I suppose I went about pursuing the chance by continuing to work on independent projects that could show case what I had to offer.

Q: How did you get involved in the Escape from Planet Earth production?

Carroll: After directing for Mainframe Entertainment I was offered the opportunity to combine my live action experience with my animation experience to work in the relatively new industry of Motion Capture. I proceeded to direct and then produce the motion capture for numerous films, television shows and video games. This led to producing multiple animated Direct-to-Video projects for Mattel Inc. that have sold over 15 million units worldwide. By this time Rainmaker had signed on to produce Escape from Planet Earth and I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to line-produce the project and ultimately become the producer.

Q: What was it that attracted you to the project?

Carroll: The chance to work on an animated theatrical feature in Vancouver with The Weinstein Company as your client and an amazing crew. Good times!

Q: For readers who would like to know more about the role of a film producer, what has a typical workday been like for you on this project?

Carroll:? Busy. No one day is the same. As the Producer, your responsibility is to do whatever it takes to keep the show moving forward. Jobs included building the crew, motivating the crew, dealing with problems before they become problems, stopping the show from falling off the tracks and ultimately keeping the client happy. Basically making sure it gets done and trying to have a good time doing it!

Q: The film has a lot of great, recognizable voice talent attached to it. Did your team create these characters with voices in mind?

Carroll: On the whole the characters were designed before the voices were cast, but there are certain personality traits that lend themselves to certain actors so trying to match them up afterwards is a fun task.

Q: How did your team convince the actors to sign on to the project?

Carroll: It is a cool project and The Weinstein Company has a lot of connections.

Q: Creativity seems to have a higher bar in 2013 as the quality of animation seems to improve with each new major production. Animation must have been a tough business before computers ? but is it also tough today because of the high level of talent to compete with?

Carroll: Yes it is tough but at its core it is still about telling a great story that connects with an audience.

Q: What is the formula behind making a good animated film?

Carroll: Storytelling is definitely a critical element ? there is not one particular formula that creates success, but a strong team, a great script and wonderful artistic talent are important building blocks.

Q: You started work on this project in 2009. Are you excited for the film to finally get a release??

Carroll: Yes. It was a very challenging show to get to the finish line and we are all delighted with how it turned out.

Q: Do you see yourself in another position within the film industry? Are there other roles that interest you?

Carroll: I?m interested in any role that works with great people, helps to make the story the best it can be and supports the film getting to the finish line.

Q: Do you know yet what your next project will be?

Carroll: Finishing my thesis film by April!

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Luke Carroll is expected to graduate UBC in Spring 2013 with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Film Production.

A trailer for Escape from Planet Earth can be seen below.

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Source: http://wire.arts.ubc.ca/featured/ubc-film-student-produces-hollywood-animated-feature/

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Jobs data to point to steady economic growth

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Job growth likely picked up modestly in January and the unemployment rate held steady, supporting views the economy's sluggish recovery was on track despite a surprise contraction in the final three months of 2012.

Non-farm payrolls are expected to have increased by 160,000 last month after rising 155,000 in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The jobless rate is expected to have held steady at 7.8 percent for a third straight month.

The closely watched report comes on the heels of data on Wednesday showing a surprise contraction in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, but the jobs data should soothe any worries the economy was at risk of recession.

"Even if it's not spectacular, it would be encouraging because it would enable us to further write off the GDP report as not telling us anything useful about what's happening in the economy," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

GDP contracted at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, largely because of a sharp slowdown in the pace of inventory accumulation and a plunge in defense spending.

A monster storm that hit the East Coast in late October also weighed on output, a drag that should lift this quarter.

Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday that economic activity had "paused," but they signaled optimism the recovery would regain speed with continued monetary policy support. The Fed left in place a monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan.

The Labor Department will release the January employment report at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) It will also publish benchmark revisions to payrolls data going back to 2008.

In a preliminary estimate in September, it said there were likely 386,000 more jobs created in the 12 months through March 2012 than initially reported.

The department will also introduce new population factors for its survey of households from which the unemployment rate is calculated. This will affect the size of the labor force and the household survey's estimate of the number of people employed and unemployed. However, the jobless rate will not be affected.

"The adjustments won't recast the overarching story of this recovery, which is it's insufficient to keep up, much less reduce, the underutilization of our labor force," said Patrick O'Keefe, head of economic research at CohnReznick in Roseland, New Jersey.

MODEST JOB GROWTH

Job growth in 2012 averaged 153,000 a month, little changed from the prior year and not enough to significantly reduce unemployment. Economists say employment gains in excess of 250,000 a month over a sustained period are needed.

Though the unemployment rate dropped 0.5 percentage point last year, that was mostly because some unemployed Americans gave up the search for work because of weak job prospects.

The share of the working age population with a job has been below 60 percent for almost four years.

All the anticipated job gains in January are expected to be in the private sector, where hiring is believed to have been as broad-based as it was in December.

"That broadening is encouraging. We are not going to make meaningful headway in terms of returning our unemployed people to work until we see an across-the-board gain in all sectors and a slowdown in public sector declines," said O'Keefe.

Improved jobs growth could help the economy weather the headwinds of higher taxes and government spending cuts. A payroll tax cut expired on January 1 and big automatic spending cuts are set to take hold in March unless Congress acts.

The goods-producing sector is expected to show a second month of solid gains, with manufacturing employment advancing for a fourth straight month. Construction payrolls are expected to have added to December's healthy 30,000 gain.

Within the vast private services sector, an improvement in retail jobs from December's slump is unlikely, given hefty gains between September and November. Education and health payrolls are expected to have eased off from December's 10-month high.

Government payrolls are expected to have dropped by about 5,000 last month after falling 13,000 in December. The pace is moderating as local government layoffs, outside education, subside.

Average hourly earnings are projected to have risen 0.2 percent last month after increasing 0.3 percent in December. Hourly earnings ticked up at the end of 2012, climbing 2.1 percent in the 12 months through December up from 1.9 percent in November.

"It may be that we are now getting to a point in the labor market where we are going to see an upward creep in average hourly earnings," said RDQ Economics' Ryding. "That's going to be good for the consumer and they need help because they are being whacked by the payrolls tax increase."

The length of the average workweek is expected to have held steady at 34.5 hours after edging up in December.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jobs-data-point-steady-economic-growth-115023761--business.html

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