Employment rate in the United States grew steadily for the second straight month in March, as the unemployment rate dropped at 8.8 percent. The shift in trends in the labor market is likely to help the United States recover from economic crisis in the past few years.

The Department of Labor said Friday that the nonfarm payroll has increased by 216,000 last month. The gain was pre-empted by 194,000 new positions that opened February 2011.

As a result of the very favorable pace of job growth lately, the unemployment rate has been pulled down ever since November 2011. Reports said that the decrease from November to March is the greatest decline since 1984.

An independent result also indicated that there is an elevation in factory activity March this year. This means there would be more jobs in the industrial area in the United States.

However, economist Julia Coronado said that although these reports tell us that our economy is slowly regaining strength, it also means that the United States has a very long way to go in terms of employment.

The U.S. economy is clearly gaining momentum but it has only recovered a small fraction of what it has lost during the recession. There are said to be 8 million jobs lost when a recession hit the U.S.

Many Wall Street investors are more than pleased with the reports. They also cheered the modest augment to the U.S government bond and the strengthening U.S. dollar exchange rate against the Japanese yen.

YouTube has pulled off another yearly prank to celebrate April Fools’ Day. The site, early Friday, announced its 100th year on its blog and completed the prank with promotional videos and sepia tone platform to depict what it had looked back in 1911.

The video-sharing website updated its logo and included a classic 1911 button on each video. This will transform any video clips to an old-style motion picture with a yellowish skin and vintage piano soundtrack.

The site also featured a promotional video that reveals the top five finest or viral pictures of 1911. However, they were actually clips taken from various videos uploaded by different users in YouTube.

It was difficult not to distinguish the prank with the cameo appearances of Annoying Orange for the Irksome Citrus, Rickroll or Ruth Roll in 1911 and Keyboard Cat for Flugelhorn Feline.

YouTube made a pretty fun start to celebrate April Fools’ Day.

YouTube is owned by Google, which has been practicing April Fools’ pranks for years. Last year, the search engine company said it would allow users to upload any physical objects such as remote controls and keys to Google Docs.

Two years ago, Google Mobile promised users that search results will come out if they will put their phone on their forehead and think about their search. In 2004, Google advertised jobs about planned research center on the moon, which was also considered as their most famous prank for April Fools’ Day.

YouTube and Google are not alone. However, other pranks also started showing up in many social-networking sites and online video space.

Microsoft Corporation supported, Thursday, the European Union’s probe against Google Incorporation’s suspected monopoly of the online search market. Brad Smith, General Counsel of Microsoft, said that they are planning to file a complaint against Google with the European Commission.

Microsoft said that the entire point of the case is Google’s pattern of thwarting competition and stopping anyone who might provide creative competition. No one from the European Commission confirmed receipt of such complaint.

The European Commission started a formal investigation on Google on November 2010. They did this after receiving a couple of complaints from other web companies saying that Google was intentionally making sure the smaller companies do not rank in the search results.

Al Verney, Google’s spokesperson, said that they are not surprised of Microsoft’s actions as the initial complaints stemmed from one of the company’s subsidiaries. The very first complaint started from Ciao, an online shopping website, which is owned by Microsoft’s Bing. However, Microsoft’s complaint will definitely add weight on the case as it is said to have a detailed and specific examples of Google’s alleged monopoly of their industry.

Verney said that they are always willing to explain the mechanics of their business. He also said that they are currently discussing this matter with the European Commission.

Brad Smith of Microsoft said that Google has ensured some technical measures to make sure competing sites cannot properly access YouTube videos. With that, Microsoft and even Yahoo, can never come close to Google.

Smith further said that Windows operated phones of Microsoft is blocked from properly operating with YouTube, whereas its Google counterpart Android perform better with YouTube.

Sprint Nextel Corp. opposes the proposed $39 billion deal between AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc., the wireless provider announced in a statement on Monday.

The third largest wireless provider in United States urges the government to block the agreement. Voya McCann, Sprint’s senior vice president for government affairs, says the deal will cause harm in the industry and will be dominated by two service carriers, which are Verizon Wireless and a much larger AT&T T-Mobile.

AT&T Inc. planned to takeover T-Mobile USA by purchasing it for $39 billion from its parent company Deutsche Telekom AG. The agreement between the companies was announced March 20. However, it will take effect once it has been approved by the regulators.

Sprint’s chief executive officer Dan Heese said in an interview last week that they will file objections at the U.S. Congress once they start to review the agreement. The government is expected to review the deal comprehensively.

Also, key lawmakers promised to execute hearings. Some of the lawmakers, as well as some consumer advocates believe that the deal could increase prices for wireless subscribers and lessen the competition in the industry.

Sprint said it can compete with the truly dynamic marketplace. AT&T’s plans to purchase T-Mobile can reverse the years of action by the court and federal government to make the telecommunications market in the United States more competitive.

AT&T increased 75 cents to $29.60 on Monday in New York Stock Exchange while Sprint increased 5 cents to $4.73 in the composite trading.

Nintendo finally launched Sunday midnight the most awaited Nintendo 3DS. It is the latest addition to the Nintendo gaming console family that allows gamers to play 3D games without using 3D glasses. This is a first of its kind and people waited in line outside one of the stores in New York.

After the very successful iPad 2 launch just a couple of weeks ago, Nintendo made sure that they will have an equally raving party.

Most of the stores started selling the gadget Sunday morning but many others opened at midnight and that included Best Buy in Manhattan. The president of Nintendo US Reginald Fils-Aime attended the official launch of Nintendo 3DS in New York. He sold the very first unit to Isaiah Johnson who reportedly waited in line for six long days.

Demo booths, hotdog stands, and live music were arranged on the street; and at exactly 12 midnight, people threw 3D glasses up in the air to celebrate the official release of Nintendo 3DS. The party, and the long line outside the store, lasted until 2 in the morning.

Many people, however, believe that the 3D element of this new gadget is just a gimmick; in fact, 25 percent of a 3,000-respondent survey conducted by Slash Gear, agrees. The same survey found out that 31 per cent of them would most likely purchase the device if it was not for its whooping $249 price.

Nintendo 3DS is guaranteed to be safe to use, but due to some health reasons, children below six years old should not be allowed to use the 3D settings. There were reports of headache and seizures as a result of excessive use.

Amazon.com officially opened its Android Appstore on Tuesday. The store offers thousands of free and paid software applications for tablet computers and smartphones running Google’s Android operating system.

However, Apple Inc issued a trademark complaint against the largest online retailer in United States. Apple decided that the name of Amazon’s online application store is just too similar with their App Store.

The Amazon Appstore offers features that challenge Google’s own Android Market. It allows users to test applications that they are interested with a simulated Android phone. The simulated phone can be accessed through the computer using a mouse. Amazon calls it the “Test Drive.”

The company, in collaboration with Rovio Mobile, also offers another perk to its users through their Appstore. The Angry Birds Rio for Android will be launched exclusively at their Appstore. This allows customers to download the app for free, but only for a limited time. Amazon will also launch ad-free versions exclusively for Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons.

In 2008, Apple made an application to register the name “App Store” as a trademark in the United States. It has even attracted legal challenge from Microsoft Inc. Today, the application is still under consideration at the Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple wanted Amazon to stop using the name. It said consumers might be confused whether Amazon’s application store is approved or sponsored by Apple.

Amazon software developers will get 70 percent of the sales. However, the company will set the prices for each application. There are about 3,800 applications available in the site now. It can be downloaded through a mobile app or through the web interface.

Currently, Amazon Appstore is only available in the United States.

After months of speculations and expectations, the iPad 2 has finally arrived; however, Apple already confirmed that it will be sold online first. A lot of iPad enthusiasts breathe a sigh of relief as this means they can avoid the expected long lines in gadget stores.

If you do not have the patience to wait a couple days for shipping, the Apple iPad 2 will be available in all Apple stores, AT&T, Walmart, Verizon, Target, and Best Buy one day after its online release. Everyone who purchases the latest iPad in Apple retail stores will be delighted with free services; such as, e-mail set-up, applications, and more.

For those who will opt to order iPad 2 directly from the Apple official website, they will be given free shipping and an online exclusive offer of free iPad engraving.

Apple showcased a thinner, lighter and sleeker iPad 2 with a promise of faster performance. The new iPad also has rear and front camera for video chat; something its predecessor lacked. Tech bloggers especially enjoy the extended battery life, which has now reached 10 hours; and its smart cover.

However, iPad 2 fell short of a few people’s expectations. Some complained that the unit does not have a crisp retina screen like that of an iPhone 4; while others noticed that it was not constructed with Corning Incorporated’s Gorilla Glass Display which is a cause of dismay for many.

The 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 is priced at $499 while the 64GB Wi-Fi with 3G unit is sold for $829. The latest innovation in iPad comes in black and white.

On Wednesday, world stocks slumped from this week’s 29-month high after interest rates rose in China. This prompted investors to book profits while general optimism over worldwide growth sent 10-year U.S. bond yields to nine-month highs.

For the second time in over six weeks, China increased its interest rates on Tuesday raising the battle against inflation.

It is believed that aggressive monetary tightening in the second biggest economy in the world could possibly put a halt on global growth and mull over equities and commodities. However, investors remained convinced that the proactive yet gradual step of China will not disrupt the global recovery.

The rate increase gave investors an excuse to strengthen their positions after the benchmark world index improved nearly 4 percent since the beginning of the year.

Investors are also being vigilant before Ben Bernanket, the Federal Reserve chairman, testifies on the economy afterward. By that time, he might give signs on the future expectations for interest rates in United States.

According to Adam Myers, the senior currency strategist at Credit Agricole CIB, China is turning its focus towards inflation rather than growth. This means growth is still likely to continue.

THE MSCI world equity index decreased 0.3 percent, hitting its 29-month peak on Tuesday. The Thomson Reuters global stock index fell 0.2 percent while FTS Eurofirst 300 index was steady on that day. Emerging stocks dropped to almost one percent while Shanghai shares fell 0.9 percent.

U.S crude oil increased 0.7 percent to $87.56 per barrel while London crude prices soared above $100 because of tighter North Sea supplies.

The bund future dropped 24 ticks while yields on 10-year U.S treasuries rose as high as 3.77 percent. The figures were their highest since late April.

The dollar lowered against several major currencies while the euro increased 0.1 percent to $1.3645.

Bernanke said last week that the U.S. economy still needs assistance from the Fed, a stand many traders anticipate him to repeat when he talks on Wednesday.

United Parcel Service reported a quarterly profit that beat the estimates of analysts, increasing their shares by more than 4 percent. The largest package delivery company in the world predicts record-high profits in 2011.

Analysts said that there were several factors that are driving the company’s performance. These include price increases last year and early this year, the increasing volume as the economy recovers, and the use of technology that has improved productivity.

UPS manages goods equal to 6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in United States and 2 percent of the GDP in the entire world in its planes and trucks. Its shipment trends provide a concrete picture of consumer demand, the company said.

According to Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn in an interview, UPS is walking out of recession stronger and nimbler than ever. Their company is a little more optimistic on the U.S. economy, but global growth will be more patterned.

UPS calls for moderate global growth in 2011. It said they controlled costs as compensations and benefit expenses increased less than volume.

Sterne Agee foresees UPS shares increasing to $100 on the following 12 months. It cited the company’s capability to recapture costs by elevating prices and internal controls.

The shares of the company were up 4.3 percent or $3.08 at $74.74 in the afternoon trading. Its shares last attained $75 in December 2007, a UPS spokesman informed.

BB&T analyst Kevin Sterling said UPS already thinks they can exceed peak earnings in less than two years from the start of the recession.

Carmakers are building a strong start to 2011, relieving worries about slower growth demand in the Asian markets that brought sales away last year, including the rough recovery in western markets.

Hyundai Motor from South Korea said global sales increased 14 percent in January. Vehicle manufacturers from India reported sales increase between 14 and 22 percent.

Also, the number 1 seat belts to airbags group in the world, Autoliv predicted that a recovery in North America would help the sales this year.

The sales data released from French passenger car makers on Tuesday revealed an increase of 8.2 percent year-on-year to 185,603 units in January. France’s last effects of a scrapping promotion continued to enhance the figures. The promo ended in December, but cars purchased with the bonus can be registered up until March.

However, the growth in India and China that has persisted carmakers has recently been cooling off. The uncertain recovery in advanced markets such as Europe and United States has always remained as a concern, analysts said.

In the U.S., auto sales lost their driving force in the final weeks of January, the auto executives and a leading analyst warned on Monday. They want to set the stage to soften the start of 2011 rather than what automakers expect when they release their January sales report later on Tuesday.

According to Flavien Neuvy, head of Cetelem’s automobile industry research department, there won’t be any surprises until March. He added that the question will be afterward, between April and September when there will be a lot of uncertainty. Cetelem is a consumer credit organization.

However, sales on light commercial vehicle increased 8.6 percent in January.