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With just two days to go before Christmas, the country

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in December at the fastest pace since April 2005 as orders and the factory workweek increased.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index unexpectedly rose to 24.3 from 22.5 last month. The gauge was forecast to decrease to 15, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings greater than zero signal expansion in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

Growth in China and other emerging economies, corporate purchases of new equipment and stronger consumer spending are bolstering production. Manufacturing may keep powering an economic recovery that Fed policy makers this week said has been slow to create jobs.

“It certainly adds to evidence that growth is accelerating,” said Jim O’Sullivan, global chief economist at MF Global Inc. in New York. “There is pretty good momentum going into the new year.”

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 59 economists ranged from 5 to 20.5.

Stocks were little changed after the manufacturing figures. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,235.36 at 10:39 a.m. in New York. Treasuries fell, pushing up the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.54 percent from 3.53 percent late yesterday.

Jobless Claims

Another report from the Labor Department today showed fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for jobless benefits last week, a sign the labor market is improving. Applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 3,000 to 420,000.

The Philadelphia Fed bank’s new orders measure climbed to 14.6, the highest since February, from 10.4 in November. A measure of the average workweek increased to 19.3 in December, the highest since March 2004, indicating hiring may soon pick up.

The shipments gauge decreased to 7.3 from 16.8 last month. The employment index fell to 5.1 from 13.3 last month, which was the highest since August 2007 payday loans lenders.

The index of prices paid jumped to 51.2, the highest since July 2008, from 34 the prior month, while its gauge of prices received increased to a two-year high of 10.7 from minus 2.1.

Empire State

The overall Philadelphia Fed’s index isn’t composed of the individual measures, so some economists consider it a gauge of sentiment among manufacturers. The New York Fed’s factory measure, released yesterday, rebounded to 10.6 this month from minus 11.1 in November.

Economists monitor the New York and Philadelphia Fed factory reports for clues about the Institute for Supply Management national figures on manufacturing during the month.

The ISM will release its report on Jan. 3. The measure last month fell to 56.6 from a five-month high of 56.9.

Manufacturing makes up about 11 percent of the economy and is getting a boost from expanding world trade. Exports rose 3.2 percent in October to the highest level since August 2008, according to Commerce Department data released Dec. 10. Business spending on equipment and software advanced at a 17 percent annual rate in the third quarter.

Broadcom Corp., the biggest maker of chips for television set-top boxes, yesterday increased its fourth-quarter revenue projection to about $1.9 billion, the top end of an earlier forecast range. Irvine, California-based Broadcom is making inroads in the mobile-phone market, supplying radio chips for handsets from South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Finland’s Nokia Oyj.

“We have seen now an extended period of time of recovery in the components business,” Paul Reilly , chief financial officer of Arrow Electronics Inc., said yesterday at a conference in New York. Melville, New York-based Arrow is a distributor of electronic components and computer products to industrial customers.

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The Toronto stock market was little changed in early trading Tuesday as investors look to an afternoon announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve on interest rates and economic conditions.

The S&P/TSX composite index was off 7.09 points to 13,288.76 while the TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.56 points to 2,132.32.

The Canadian dollar shed early gains against the U.S. dollar, down 0.24 of a cent to 99 cents US.

Analysts aren

Worldwide oil demand hit its highest level ever on the back of explosive growth in the developing world, according to preliminary figures in a recent report.

But the world’s thirst for the hot commodity is unlikely to lead to the price spike witnessed in 2008 — largely due to oil field investments made during the last bubble, analysts say.

Globally, oil demand hit 88.3 million barrels a day in the third quarter of 2010, according to preliminary numbers released earlier this week from energy consultants Wood Mackenzie. That tops the previous quarterly record of 88 million barrels a day, reached in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The developing world led the rebound, according to the report, with gasoline demand rising 8% in China and 11% in India.

Oil demand in much of the developed world has been flat or declining in the last couple of years, partially due to the recession and partly due to conservation measures put in place over the last several years. Many analysts expect that trend to continue.

"The global market for oil is diverging as never before," said Francis Osborne, an oil analyst at Wood Mackenzie. "In the emerging markets, it has generally been full speed ahead."

Supply and Demand: Auto sales statistics illustrate this well: The Chinese are expected to buy 18 million cars in 2010 — a 32% jump from 2009, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. In the U.S., about 11.5 million cars are expected to be sold; a 10% increase for the country after a dismal 2009.

Worldwide, oil demand is poised to grow by 2.5 million barrels a day in 2010 — one of the largest growth rates on record, according to the Wood Mackenzie report. Eighty-five percent of that growth is expected to come from the developing world.

But despite the voracious appetite, few analysts expect prices to surge like they did in 2008, when oil hit $147 a barrel online pay day loans.

That’s because the world can produce more oil now than it could then.

Oil flashback: In 2008, the difference between what the world could produce and the amount it consumed — known as spare production capacity in industry parlance — was only about 1 million barrels.

That meant that rebels in Nigeria, hostilities in Iran, or a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably knock out enough production to cause an actual oil shortage. It was one of the main reasons cited for the run up in prices in 2007-2008.

Now that’s no longer the case. Thanks to investments in Canada’s oil sands, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; the world can now produce about 5 million more barrels a day than it uses, said Branko Terzic, an oil analyst at Deloitte & Touche.

Prices: "On a fundamental supply and demand basis, I think prices will be pretty much steady as she goes," Terzic said.

Citibank futures analyst Tim Evans also foresees oil prices to continue hovering in their current $80 to $90 range for the next year.

Despite China’s rapid growth, Evans said that on a worldwide basis — with oil prices high enough to both encourage new production and crimp demand — the overall oil supply picture looks pretty balanced.

In fact, he blamed even $90 oil on investment money flowing into the sector — not supply and demand.

"Where is demand exceeding supply?" he asked. "Not on the Gulf Coast; not at the gas pump. Only on the New York Mercantile Exchange."  

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Traders are wrong to underestimate the Swedish central bank’s determination to raise interest rates as credit risks overshadow inflation targets in shaping policy, said Deutsche Bank AG, the world’s biggest currency trader.

Forward-rate agreements in Sweden show traders expect the repo rate to reach about 2.5 percent by the end 2012, compared with the bank’s forecast for an average rate of 2.9 percent in the last three months of that year. For late next year, traders expect a repo rate of about 2 percent, in line with the bank’s outlook.

Governor Stefan Ingves says the Riksbank needs to keep raising interest rates to quell credit growth and stem imbalances in the country’s housing market. Two of his board’s six members say higher rates aren’t necessary because inflation is below the bank’s 2 percent target. According to Henrik Gullberg, Deutsche Bank currency strategist, the financial crisis is forcing the Riksbank and other central banks to look beyond inflation targeting as they search for tools to tackle looming asset bubbles.

“We know what happens if you leave asset bubbles alone,” Gullberg said in an interview. “History shows that the Riksbank has been more right than the market during hiking or cutting cycles — the market has been too backward looking, too late to actually start believing what the Riksbank says it will do.”

The potential for more rate increases means the currency is poised for further appreciation, Gullberg said. Deutsche Bank expects the krona to strengthen to below 8 against the euro “longer-term,” compared with an average of about 9.13 this month. Gullberg also says “the risk for bond yields is on the upside — there’ll be higher rates across the board.”

Housing Market

The Riksbank will probably raise the repo rate a quarter point to 1.25 percent this month, according to Deutsche Bank and Citigroup Inc. Policy makers meet on Dec. 14 and announce their decision the following day.

The repo rate will average 1.3 percent next quarter, 2 percent in the fourth quarter of next year and 2.9 percent by the end of 2012, according to the Riksbank’s rate path.

Sweden’s December 2012 forward-rate agreement was at 2.95 percent yesterday. The contract settles to the three-month Stockholm interbank offered rate, which has averaged about 40 basis points more than the bank’s repo rate over the past five years. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Gullberg isn’t the only analyst who says a bet against the Riksbank may backfire. Societe Generale SA also says it doesn’t make sense to trade against the bank’s forecasts.

Riksbank Right

“Recently, the Riksbank has been right in its forecasts, so there was no big reason to bet against them,” said David Deddouche, a foreign-exchange strategist at Societe Generale in Paris. “It hasn’t been profitable to bet against them in the last year at least.”

Headline inflation accelerated 0.3 point to 1.8 percent in November, Stockholm-based Statistics Sweden said yesterday. The rate has lagged behind the bank’s target since December 2008.

Inflation will average 1.7 percent next year and 2.2 percent in 2012, the Riksbank estimates. Inflation adjusting for the impact of mortgage costs will hover below the bank’s 2 percent target through 2013, according to the bank’s October outlook.

By contrast, house prices have risen for 18 consecutive three-month periods, and increased an annual 5 percent in the October quarter, the statistics office said on Nov. 17. Household borrowing has averaged 10.7 percent a month over the past six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ingves said he “personally” has taken the development of household debt into account when raising rates, warning of the risk of financial imbalances if rates don’t continue to rise, in a Nov. 11 speech.

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The service sector expanded for the 11th straight month in November and at the fastest pace in six months.

The Institute for Supply Management says that its service sector index rose to 55 last month from 54.3 in October. It was the highest reading since May. Any figure over 50 indicates growth.

Retailers, hotels and restaurants, and the transportation and health care industries were among the 10 industries reporting expansion last month quick payday loan. Six industries contracted, including educational services; mining, agriculture and forestry; and governmetn.

New orders grew at a faster pace, rising to 57.7 from 56.7. The employment index also increased.

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The International Monetary Fund stands ready to help Ireland if needed, its managing director said, as market concern about the country’s debt crisis continues.

“Everybody knows that the situation with Ireland, it’s a difficult situation,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss- Kahn told reporters today in Yokohama, Japan. “So far I haven’t received any kind of request. I think they can manage well. If at one point in time, tomorrow, in two months or two years, the Irish want support from the IMF, we will be ready.”

In a conference call of European Central Bank officials around noon Frankfurt time yesterday, Ireland was pressed to seek outside help within days, said a person briefed on the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ireland could draw on the 60 billion euro ($82 billion) segment of the broader 750-billion-euro fund set up by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in May, Irish state broadcaster RTE said, without saying where it obtained the information. The smaller pool is funded directly by the European Commission, the EU’s Brussels-based executive branch.

Bailing out Ireland’s financial system could cost as much as 50 billion euros under a “stress case” scenario compiled by the Finance Ministry and central bank. The country’s gross funding need for 2011 will be 23.5 billion euros, falling to 18.6 billion euros in 2014, the nation’s debt agency said yesterday.

Irish bonds rose from a record low yesterday, gaining for the first time in 14 days as traders bet a bailout was near.

Strauss-Kahn, who is attending this weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, also told reporters today that Ireland’s debt problems are mostly linked with “one big bank” and are different from those of Greece.

“It’s not the same thing as Greece’s problem,” which was caused by a lack of economic competitiveness in addition to fiscal woes, he said.

The Irish government nationalized Anglo Irish Bank Corp. in January 2009 as loan losses spiraled. The government also has taken a 36 percent stake in Bank of Ireland Plc and is preparing to take a majority stake in Allied Irish Banks Plc.

EU countries established the bailout fund in May to protect the euro area from the fallout of the Greek-led debt crisis. Speculation has grown that Ireland would need it after a housing-led recession and the need to save its biggest lenders plunged it into fiscal turmoil.

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UPMC Health Plan's Medical Assistance product — UPMC for You— and its Children's Health Insurance Program product — UPMC for Kids — are expanding into central and eastern Pennsylvania.

UPMC for You is available in 10 new counties, including Adams, Berks, Cumberland and Dauphin, and UPMC for Kids is now available in four new counties: Berks, Lancaster, Lehigh and Northampton. UPMC for You is already sold in 14 counties in western Pennsylvania, and UPMC for Kids is currently available in 32 counties.

"We are excited to expand our offerings to reach families in need in central Pennsylvania and eastern Pennsylvania," John Lovelace, president of UPMC for You, said in a prepared release. "Our benefits and services have made UPMC for You and UPMC for Kids the top choices for many in western Pennsylvania and we expect that will continue as we move eastward payday loans."

To facilitate the expansion, UPMC Health Plan added Berkshire Health Partners, a preferred provider organization in Berks County, to its network of providers for Medicaid and CHIP. The BHP network includes more than 3,900 doctors, 460 ancillary providers and 15 hospitals located in Berks, Upper Bucks, Carbon, Northern Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.

Over the past decade, membership in UPMC for You has increased more than 150 percent, making it the fastest growing Medical Assistance plan and the biggest of the three Medicaid managed care organization in western Pennsylvania, according to the company. UPMC for You has more than 130,000 members in 14 counties in western Pennsylvania.

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Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has appointed Michael James Vallejos to replace retiring District Court Judge J. Stephen Phillips in the 2nd Judicial District, which serves Denver, effective Nov. 30, officials said on Friday.

Vallejos currently heads the Denver regional office of the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, where he has worked since 1991. He previously was in private practice, where he provided criminal defense and served as guardian ad litem for children in divorce proceedings.

He earned bachelor’s degrees from the University of Colorado in 1984 and his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1991 guaranteed online personal loans.

For a district court judge, the initial term of office is a provisional term of two years. Thereafter, if retained by the voters, district court judges serve six-year terms at an annual salary of $128,598.

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Federal aviation regulators slapped American Airlines on Thursday with the largest fine in history, charging that the carrier made thousands of unsafe flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has "proposed" a $24.2 million civil penalty for American Airlines’ failure to properly inspect wire bundles in the wheel wells of its MD-80 aircraft. The incident snarled thousands of flights in 2008.

The airline, owned by AMR Corp., (AMR, Fortune 500) did not follow the guidelines in the so-called 2006 Airworthiness Directive, which was intended to prevent wires from shorting, which could cause a loss of power and possibly a fire, the FAA said.

The airline’s stock price is down 1.7%.

The FAA inspections resulted in the grounding of about 1,000 American Airlines flights in early April, 2008, after the FAA found that the airline did not properly inspect two of its airplanes.

As part of that inspection, the FAA determined that the airline operated 286 of its MD-80s on a total of 14,278 flights "while the aircraft were not in compliance with federal regulations cheap business cards."

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the fine is considered a proposal as a legal formality, because the airline has 30 days to respond and has the option of negotiating a smaller fine.

"There was never a flight safety issue," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith told CNNMoney.com in an email.

"These events happened more than two years ago and we believe this action is unwarranted," he said. "We will challenge any proposed civil penalty. We are confident we have a strong case and the facts will bear this out."

Lunsford said that Southwest Airlines (LUV, Fortune 500) had previously been the recipient of the biggest FAA fine — of $10.2 million — which it was able to negotiate down to $7.5 million. 

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