The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the economy added 175,000 jobs last month, edging out analyst expectations. The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6 percent.

Despite the lag in the jobless rate, economists are seeing an improvement in consumer confidence, partly driven by the stock market and rising home prices.

Government tracking of Verizon telephone records raises the question of just how valuable phone information really is. Would it be more useful to track text message records?

The world’s richest country, Qatar, has been splurging on international acquisitions. Now that it’s landed the 2022 World Cup, the tiny Arab nation is starting to focus more on spending at home.