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The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector accelerated in January to its highest level in nearly a year as new orders and employment jumped, an industry report showed on Friday.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 56.8 last month from a revised 53.0 in December. It was the highest level since February 2011.

Economists had expected the index to hold steady at 53.0, according to a Reuters survey. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

U.S. stocks rose 1 percent heading into the data, while Treasuries yields hit session highs following its release and the euro extended losses against the dollar.

The new orders index climbed to 59.4 from 54.6, though the prices paid measure edged up to 63.5 from 62.0

Employment in the vast services sector was robust, rising to the highest level in six years at 57.4 from 49.8 and adding to signals of improvement in the labor market. The sector accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States Business Card Holders.

The overall U.S. unemployment rate fell to close to a three-year low in January, separate data showed earlier on Friday, as the economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months.

Anticipation for a third round of stimulus, or quantitative easing, from the Federal Reserve had picked up after the Fed left the door open to more stimulus at its most recent meeting, the jobs report muted those expectations.

Economic growth is expected to back off in early 2012 from the 2.8 percent rate of growth in the fourth quarter, though there are signs of underlying momentum.

Global service sector data on Friday was more mixed and showed Europe’s economy probably picked up last month, while growth in Chinese service firms slowed sharply.

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Inflation in the 17 countries that use the euro was unchanged in the year to January at 2.7 percent, official figures showed Wednesday, reinforcing market expectations that the European Central Bank will decide to keep interest rates unchanged at its next policy meeting.

The first estimate for the month from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, was in line with forecasts and the euro was little changed around the $1.3125 mark.

Inflation has been running above the European Central Bank’s target of “just below 2 percent” since December 2010.

Even so, the eurozone’s central bank cut its main benchmark rate in November and December to a record low of 1 percent as it tries to shore up the foundering eurozone economy.

Further interest rate reductions from the bank, which is led by Mario Draghi, are widely anticipated, especially if inflation falls back further as last year’s energy and food price rises drop out of the annual comparison.

The bank announces its latest interest rate decision on Feb. 9 and the markets are pricing in a second straight month of no change.

One reason inflation is expected to moderate further toward target is the state of the eurozone economy. Many economists think the 17-nation bloc will slide back into recession this year despite some relatively optimistic signals in a raft of manufacturing surveys Wednesday. And with unemployment over 10 percent, the pressure coming from wage demands is likely to remain modest.

“The region is still in a precarious position and is unlikely to avoid falling back into another recession this year,” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics.

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Japan’s industrial production rebounded 4 percent in December from November and household spending increased for a second month, suggesting the still-weak economy is gaining some steam after last year’s tsunami disaster and flooding in Thailand that disrupted manufacturers’ supply chains.

Output of automobiles, cell phones and semiconductors drove the gains last month after production fell 2.7 percent in November. Manufacturers project further production increases in January and February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.

But Japan’s unemployment rate edged up to 4.6 percent and Junko Nishioka, economist at RBS Japan Securities, cautioned that the economic outlook was “mixed.”

While she was heartened by the 0.5 percent uptick in family spending, Nishioka said prospects for Japan’s vital manufacturing sector remained tentative amid weak export demand short term personal loans.

“The pace of recovery will be slow,” she said. “So far, we’re seeing some recovery in the auto sector and electronic components, but still it’s still not enough to compensate for the gap recorded after the March disaster and the Thai flooding.”

The factory data showed that shipments grew 4.5 percent and inventories fell 2.9 percent, both healthy indicators. Broadly speaking, production was led by strength in the electronics, automobile and general machinery sectors, the report showed.

Looking ahead, manufacturers predicted that industrial output would rise 2.5 percent in January and another 1.2 percent in February, according to a METI survey.

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Treasury five-year note yields fell to the lowest level ever after Federal Reserve officials unexpectedly said their benchmark interest rate will stay low until at least late 2014.

Yields on the securities set three consecutive records after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Jan. 25 that the central bank is considering additional asset purchases to boost growth. U.S. government debt rose for a third day yesterday as a report showed the U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-forecast 2.8% annual pace in the fourth quarter. The Labor Department is expected to report on Feb. 3 that unemployment remained at 8.5 percent this month.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his government plans to buy new Embraer jets from Brazil as well as used Airbus jets to expand his country’s state airline Conviasa.

Chavez said Venezuela will negotiate credit with the Brazilian Development Bank to buy up to 20 Embraer jets from Brazil.

Chavez thanked Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff “for the credit they’re going to give us.” He said the estimated cost of 20 jets would be $814 million.

The Venezuelan government had said earlier this month that Chavez approved plans to buy six Embraer jets. But during Chavez’s Sunday television and radio program, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez laid out the options of buying either 10 or 20 Embraer jets.

“It’s enough to see Venezuela’s location on the map to conclude on the pressing need for us to have a very powerful airline,” Chavez said.

Chavez’s government has subsidized Conviasa since its launch in 2004. The president on Sunday did not provide information about how much the government has spent on the airline in recent years instant payday loan.

According to Conviasa’s website, it currently has a fleet of 18 planes. In addition to domestic routes, Conviasa has international flights to cities including Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Damascus, Syria, among others.

Chavez also said Venezuela will buy four used Airbus 340-500 jets from an airline in the United Arab Emirates at a cost of about $60 million per plane.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a Chavez ally, has announced similar plans to expand his country’s state airline, Boliviana de Aviacion, or BoA.

Morales last month proposed to buy six Embraer 190 jets during a meeting with Rousseff in Caracas.

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Bank of America is back to basics _ slimmed down, stripped of its swagger and no longer the biggest bank in the country. And investors, after pummeling the company for two years, finally like what they see.

The stock soared 4 percent Thursday after Bank of America reported that it made $2 billion from October through December, reversing a $1.2 billion loss from a year earlier. The stock is up 27 percent this year.

Almost none of the profit came from improvements in Bank of America’s basic businesses. In fact, it lost money in the fourth quarter in real estate and investment banking.

But the bank raised $2.9 billion by selling its stake in China Construction Bank and $2.4 billion more by selling debt and issuing common stock to replace its higher-cost preferred stock, which paid out annual dividends as high as 8 percent.

“We enter 2012 stronger and more efficient after two years of simplifying and streamlining our company,” CEO Brian Moynihan said.

The cash has strengthened Bank of America’s balance sheet, a key factor as it undergoes a Federal Reserve “stress test” and tries to meet international regulatory standards that demand banks hold more cash against risky loans.

“It would be a big step if Bank of America can prove to the Street it doesn’t need to raise additional capital,” said Shannon Stemm, a banking analyst Edward Jones, a financial advice company Edward Jones.

After the stock dropped 63 percent drop in 2010 and 2011, Bank of America is eager to start over. But it won’t be easy.

Paying $4 billion for Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest subprime mortgage lender, in 2008 seemed like a bargain but has cost Bank of America tens of billions in mortgage losses, fines and litigation.

“The biggest problem with Bank of America is that you never know what litigation expense lurks around the corner,” Stemm said.

The bank has also been forced to buy billions of dollars’ worth of mortgages from the government-sponsored mortgage financing companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In 2011, the bank lost about $14 billion just on legal settlements tied to mortgages issued in years past. On Thursday, the bank said it put aside an additional $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter for future litigation, most of it tied to mortgages.

In addition to the legal costs, the Federal Reserve last year refused to let Bank of America increase its stock dividend, citing uncertainty about the depth of its mortgage problems Faxless payday loans.

It was the only denial issued to any of the four largest U.S. banks by the Fed, which is closely monitoring how the largest banks use their cash since the bailouts of 2008.

This year, Bank of America hasn’t asked the Fed to raise its dividend.

As the U.S. economy slowly comes back, investors are betting Bank of America is poised to capture some of that growth. But that won’t be easy, either.

Loans to people and businesses aren’t as profitable as they were before the financial crisis. Not only are interest rates at historic lows, but regulators have limited the fees banks can collect for overdrafts and late credit card payments. The government has also reduced the fees banks can ollect from stores on debit-card transactions.

Bank of America knows something about debit card fees. Last fall, it caused a public uproar when it announced it would charge customers $5 a month to use debit cards. The bank quickly backed off.

Bank of America serves about half of American households, and its results showed that housing continues remains a concern in the economy. The bank’s real estate business lost $1.5 billion after a 74 percent decline in new home loans. The bank lost some market share and closed a division that helped third-party home lenders.

But Americans seemed to be getting their financial houses in order by paying off more debt on time.

Bank of America, one of the largest credit card issuers, said customers who paid bills a month late declined for the 11th consecutive quarter. New credit card accounts also grew 53 percent, and the division posted a profit of $1 billion.

Bank of America’s investment banking business reported a loss of $433 million due to lower investment banking fees and lower sales and trading driven by the rocky stock and bond markets in the last three months of the year.

The bank’s quarterly earnings came to 15 cents per share, which was less than the 22 cents expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet, a provider of financial data. The earnings were in line with other estimates.

The bank reported fourth quarter revenue rose 11 percent to $25.1 billion from last year. For the year, the bank made $1.4 billion. It lost $2.2 billion in 2010.

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The U.S. trade deficit widened more than forecast in November as American exports declined and companies stepped up imports of crude oil and automobiles.

The gap expanded 10.4 percent to $47.8 billion, the widest since June, from a $43.3 billion shortfall in October, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The deficit was larger than any of the estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of 75 economists.

The U.S. import bill was driven by demand for higher-priced crude oil at the same time American companies tempered orders for consumer goods on concern household spending will cool early this year. Exports from the U.S. declined to a four-month low, depressed by a drop in shipments to Europe.

Consumer confidence rose more than expected in December, hitting an eight-month high, as Americans grew more upbeat about the labor market and their financial situation.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer sentiment increased to 64.5 from a downwardly revised 55.2 in November.

Economists had expected a reading of 58.3 from a previously reported 56.0 in November.

The rise in sentiment offered hope for a pick-up in consumer spending after a tepid performance in November.

Labor market conditions have improved in recent months, with the unemployment rate falling to a 2-1/2 year low in November and applications for first time jobless benefits at the lowest since April 2008.

The survey’s present situation index rose to 46.7 this month — the highest since September 2008 — from 38.3 in November. The expectations index surged to 76.4 from 66.4 in November.

“Consumers are more optimistic that business conditions, employment prospects and their financial situations will get better,” the Conference Board said in a statement.

“While consumers are ending the year in a somewhat more upbeat mood, it is too soon to tell if this is a rebound from earlier declines or a sustainable shift in attitudes.”

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Workers used white tarps Friday to cover the exterior signs of Shula’s 347 Grill, which abruptly closed last week at the Roberts Tower, the stylish but empty condo building in downtown St. Louis.

Taped to the front door was a sign that read, “We are closed to make exciting changes!”

How the street-level space will change could not be immediately determined, but Shula’s will not return. Robert Zarco, the lawyer for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Shula Steak Houses, said Friday that the company pulled its St. Louis franchise, which he said was held by a firm controlled by businessmen brothers Mike and Steve Roberts.

Zarco said Shula’s main concern in St. Louis was that employees of the local restaurant were not getting paid.

“The tension was between the employees and the franchisee arising from the employees’ claiming they were not paid their wages and salaries,” he said. “In our view it impairs the brand and corporate good will of our company when employees are not paid.”

Efforts to reach Roberts company officials were unsuccessful.

Zarco said the Roberts company did not fight the loss of its Shula 347 Grill franchise. The restaurant, on the ground floor of the Roberts Tower, opened last spring.

About 30 Shula restaurants in a chain begun by retired Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula operate in more than a dozen states.

The sleek glass-and-concrete Roberts Tower, at 411 North 8th Street, is a Roberts development that has no residents two years past what had been its expected opening.

The 25-story tower adjoins the Roberts Mayfair Hotel, where some hourly workers have said they sometimes do not get paid on time.

Pending against another Roberts entity, Roberts Hospitality Services II, are liens for unpaid state sales and use taxes. The largest is for nearly $1.3 million. Nearly all of that amount is for what the lien document describes as “addition to tax” to the $25,412 in taxes owed for June 2011.

Ted Farnen, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Revenue, said Friday that the lien would be ’significantly” altered but would not say whether the amount would be revised up or down.

Also owed by Roberts Hospitality Services are payments to vendors. Among them is a $19,294 judgment obtained by Middendorf Meat Co. Its lawyer, Vincent D. Vogler, said Middendorf sued to collect for food sold to the Mayfair and what had been the Roberts’ Indigo Hotel on Lindell Boulevard. The Indigo is now operated as a Comfort Inn.

In October, yet another Roberts company

In one Northern Oklahoma county, oil and wind don’t mix.

That’s where plans by St. Louisan Tom Carnahan’s Wind Capital Group LLC for a large wind farm have run into a roadblock — claims by the Osage Nation that it would interfere with the tribe’s rights to tap oil and gas deposits.

The 15,600-member tribe sued Wind Capital in federal court in October to block the project, which would consist of 94 turbines spread across 15 square miles in Osage County, just northwest of Pawhuska. Power would supply Springfield (Mo.)-based Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., which provides power to regional and local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma.

The case is scheduled for trial in 10 days. On one level, it pits green power versus fossil fuels. More specifically, it’s a contest between Wind Capital’s rights to erect 400-foot towers on a piece of the tall grass prairie in northern Oklahoma and the tribe’s rights to tap petroleum deposits beneath it.

“The crux of the case rests on the legal standing of the mineral estate and the tribe’s right to develop the minerals as they see fit,” Chris White, Osage Nation’s executive director of governmental affairs, said in an interview.

The dispute exists because Oklahoma is among the states where surface ownership of the land can be separated from rights to oil, natural gas and minerals deposits. Today, some states today are looking at whether to make wind rights separate from surface rights.

The Osage Nation, a tribe whose heritage reaches back hundreds of years, has controlled mineral rights to the 1.5 million acres in Osage County since 1906. Last year, oil and gas companies who lease mineral rights from the tribe produced $360 million worth of petroleum, White said.

Millions of dollars in royalties are distributed to some 4,000-plus tribal members, which own shares in the mineral estate that have been passed down for more than a century. Payments also help finance roads and schools in the county, according to the lawsuit.

Osage Nation officials claim the wind farm will interfere with development of oil and gas properties, which involves installing a network of pipes to gather the petroleum that’s produced.

St. Louis-based Wind Capital, which has leased 8,500 privately-owned acres for the Osage wind farm, disagrees.

In its legal filings and public comments, Wind Capital says it believes petroleum production and wind power can co-exist in the area. The company has promised to comply with the law that gives Osage Nation reasonable access to as much of the surface as necessary to produce oil and gas.

Shortly before the lawsuit was filed, the company said in a letter to the tribe that each turbine will require a foundation of only about 50 feet in diameter paydayloans. In total, the letter said, its equipment would occupy just 1.5 percent of land under lease, leaving plenty of room for oil exploration and production.

“The actual footprint of the wind farm facility is very small in relationship to the total project boundaries,” company executives said in the letter.

Construction was scheduled to begin Nov. 19, according to Wind Capital. A company spokesman said Friday that “pre-construction activities” are underway, but declined additional comment citing the pending lawsuit.

While the Osage Nation had sought an injunction to stop the wind farm, it was Wind Capital that asked the judge to hear the case so quickly.

The company, which operates five wind farms in northwest Missouri, said lenders are reluctant to release funds for construction with the lawsuit pending. And the project hinges on federal production tax credits, so work must be complete by the end of next year. The tax credits, equal to 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, were most recently approved as part of the 2009 federal Recovery Act.

Officials said the lawsuit “jeopardizes the very existence of the wind facility.”

The parties disagree on whether the project would interfere with current oil and gas production. The Osage Nation says it will, while Wind Capital believes the matter involves only “possible future oil and gas exploration.”

Clashes between mineral rights and surface rights owners aren’t new in places like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. But traditionally they’ve been disputes between oil and gas companies or lease holders and farmers and ranchers. Only more recently have wind companies and the petroleum industry fought over access to the same real estate.

In Oklahoma, the legislature passed a law earlier this year to address the oil industry’s concerns about wind farms on producing properties and existing oil and gas leases.

Among other provisions, the Exploration Rights Act of 2011 requires wind developers to provide oil and gas companies or leaseholders 30 days notice of intent to construct a wind farm.

The Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association issued a notice to members outlining the industry’s concerns about wind energy development in oil- and gas-producing areas.

Locally, there’s been no conflict between wind and petroleum interests. Missouri has no significant petroleum production. And in Illinois, there’s little, if any, overlap with the oil producing area in southern Illinois and wind farms located in the northern part of the state.

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