In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.

The safe-haven dollar further strengthened Friday and Treasury yields hovered around their lows for the year as worries about the economy in 2010 diminished traders' appetites for risky bets.

Since 1998, the dollar’s weakness has been a major contributor to the United States stock market’s fall from global grace.

One in five Americans needed help paying for basic needs, according to a 2005 census survey.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law $334 million in budget reductions on Friday, after lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the cuts during an emergency session in which there was little disagreement over how to close the largest budget gap in recent memory.