The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in more than three months. The figure was a hopeful sign one day before the government releases the April jobs report.

Ken Levien has no plans to hire more people for his real estate project management company in New York. He says his business has only about 85 percent of the amount of work it can handle because the building industry is still hurting from the recession.

When Wisconsin Democrats launched their recall drive against Republican Gov. Scott Walker last year, it was all about unions. They wanted Walker to pay with his job for pushing legislation that stripped almost all public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.

Shareholder activism may be acceptable in the chic cafes of politics, but its verges on the cusp of fiduciary breach for those handling other peoples money.