The bottom line

Time for a raise?

For the two years from January 2009 through December 2010, worker productivity—measured by output per hour—rose at an annual rate of 4 percent. Corporate profits increased at a 30 percent annual rate in the same period. The average wage grew 2 percent annually.

The Wall Street Journal

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Residential mortgage rates top 5 percent

The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage rose last week to 5.05 percent from 4.81 percent the previous week. It’s the first time residential mortgage rates have topped 5 percent since May 2010.

CNNMoney.com

Analysts predict uptick in hiring

First-time applications for unemployment-insurance benefits fell to 383,000 last week, down 36,000 from the preceding week and the lowest level since July 2008. Analysts say the decline suggests that hiring is about to pick up.

Associated Press

Complaints against airlines up 25 percent

The number of consumer complaints filed against airlines rose 25 percent in 2010, to 10,985 from 8,821 in 2009, the Transportation Department said last week. Consumer activists attribute the increase to frustration over proliferating airline fees.

Los Angeles Times

A tough sell for hybrids

About six in 10 consumers say they’ll consider buying a gas-electric hybrid, a new poll says. Yet only 4.3 percent of cars sold in the U.S. last year were hybrids.

USA Today

Farming causes more deaths than firefighting

Farming is more dangerous than fighting fires, judging from recently published Labor Department statistics. Of every 100,000 farm and ranch workers, 38.5 suffer fatal work injuries annually, compared with 4.4 fatalities per 100,000 firefighters.

MarketWatch.com