The daily business briefing: January 2, 2017

European stocks launch 2017 on a solid note, French workers get the 'right to disconnect' from the office, and more

French flags wave
(Image credit: David Rogers/Getty Images)

1. Eurozone stock index kicks off 2017 with highest level in a year

European stocks rose to their highest level in just over a year on Monday, the first trading day of 2017. Not all markets were open, however. Britain and Switzerland remained closed for the New Year holiday, as did Asia's biggest markets. The U.S. and Canada will be closed, too. In the Eurozone, the blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index gained half a percent, hitting its highest mark since December 2015, after the purchasing managers' index for factories in the bloc came in solidly higher than the level separating economic growth from contraction.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.