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Consumer sentiment improved a tad in February to rack up a year high as Americans became more confident about the economy’s resilience, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 75.3, edging up from 75.0 the month before. It was the highest level since February 2011.

It surpassed economists’ expectations of 73.0 and recovered from a decline to 72.5 in February’s preliminary reading.

“It is not that surging oil prices, instability in the Mideast, the European crisis or uncertainties about future tax and spending policies could not ultimately derail the recovery, but that consumers expect the pace of overall economic growth to continue to slowly restore lost jobs despite these potential problems,” survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions eased to 83.0 from 84.2, but the survey’s gauge of consumer expectations also rose to its highest level in a year at 70.3 from 69.1.

A third of consumers spontaneously reported hearing about more job opportunities, the highest proportion ever recorded by the survey.

But consumers’ outlook for the economy and job growth was more positive than their views on their own finances. Improving finances were reported by 27 percent of respondents, down from 29 percent in January.

The survey’s one-year inflation expectation held steady at 3.3 percent, while the survey’s five-to-10-year inflation outlook rose to 2.9 percent after sitting at 2.7 percent for four months.

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A senior U.N. nuclear expert says his team is leaving for Tehran with hopes that Iranian officials will agree to talk about suspicions that the Islamic Republic has worked _ or is working _ on a clandestine atomic arms program.

Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency is heading a group of experts focusing on the allegations, which Iran continues to deny.

Nackaerts told reporters Sunday before boarding a flight to Tehran “the highest priority remains of course the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program.”

The trip is the second one in less than a month as the IAEA attempts to dent nearly four years of Iranian refusal to cooperate with its probe. IAEA experts came back from their last visit in late January with no concrete results.

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Companies restocked at a faster pace in December, a positive sign that they expect consumers to step up spending.

Business stockpiles grew 0.4 percent in December, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That followed a similar gain in November. Sales rose 0.7 percent, almost double the November gain.

Companies are building up their stockpiles again after cutting them over the summer amid recession fears. Higher inventories require more production, which boosts economic growth. It also suggests companies expect more sales.

Rising inventories were a key reason growth accelerated in the final three months of last year. Still, some economists expect the restocking to slow this year.

Wholesalers reported a 1 percent increase in inventories. Retailers reported a 0.2 percent gain and manufacturers 0.1 percent.

Inventories rose to a seasonally adjusted $1.56 trillion in December. That is 18 percent above the low point reached in 2009, just after the recession ended.

Rising sales are keeping stockpiles from getting too high. If companies feel their inventories are excessive, they could cut back on orders, slowing the economy payday loans direct lenders.

Overall sales rose in December. Wholesalers reported a 1.3 percent jump in sales, followed by a 0.7 increase for manufacturers and flat sales for retailers. That pushed down the ratio of inventories to sales to the lowest level since March. A lower ratio suggests inventories aren’t out of line with sales.

A separate report Tuesday showed that retail sales rose 0.4 percent in January. Consumers rebounded from a slow holiday shopping season and spent more on electronics, sporting goods, building materials and gas.

The economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. But economists expect companies won’t add as much to their stockpiles in the current quarter. That could push growth down to 2 percent or even below.

Stockpiles held by manufacturers account for nearly 40 percent of total business inventories, while wholesalers and retailers each hold about one third.

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Greek lawmakers on Monday approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-crippled nation from bankruptcy, after rioters in central Athens torched buildings, looted shops and clashed with riot police.

The historic vote paves the way for Greece’s European partners and the International Monetary Fund to release $170 billion (euro130 billion) in new rescue loans, without which Greece would default on its mountain of debt next month and likely leave the eurozone _ a scenario that would further roil global markets.

Lawmakers voted 199-74 in favor of the cutbacks, despite strong dissent among the two main coalition members. A total 37 lawmakers from the majority Socialists and conservative New Democracy party either voted against the party line, abstained or voted present.

Sunday’s clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will ax one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than a fifth.

At least 45 businesses were damaged by fire, including several historic buildings, movie theaters, banks and a cafeteria, in the worst riot damage in Athens in years. Fifty police officers were injured and at least 55 protesters were hospitalized. Forty-five suspected rioters were arrested and a further 40 detained.

As the vote got under way early Monday, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos urged calm, pointing to the country’s dire financial straits.

“Vandalism and destruction have no place in a democracy and will not be tolerated,” Papademos told Parliament. “I call on the public to show calm. At these crucial times, we do not have the luxury of this type of protest. I think everyone is aware of how serious the situation is.”

Since May 2010, Greece has survived on a $145 billion (euro110 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. When that proved insufficient, the new rescue package was approved. The deal, which has not yet been finalized, will be combined with a massive bond swap deal to write off half the country’s privately held debt.

But for both deals to materialize, Greece had to persuade its deeply skeptical creditors that it has the will to implement spending cuts and public sector reforms that will end years of fiscal profligacy and tame gaping budget deficits.

As protests raged Sunday, demonstrators set bonfires in front of parliament and dozens of riot police formed lines to keep them from making a run on the building. Security forces fired dozens of tear gas volleys at rioters, who attacked them with firebombs and chunks of marble broken off the fronts of luxury hotels, banks and department stores.

Clouds of tear gas drifted across the square, and many in the crowd wore gas masks or had their faces covered, while others carried Greek flags and banners. Masked rioters also attacked a police station with petrol bombs and stones.

A three-story building was completely consumed by flames as firefighters struggled to douse the blaze. Streets were strewn with stones, smashed glass and burnt wreckage, while terrified passers-by sought refuge in hotel lounges and cafeterias no fax pay day loan.

“I’ve had it! I can’t take it any more. There’s no point in living in this country any more,” said a distraught shop owner walking through his smashed and looted optician store.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis said rioters tried to storm the City Hall building, but were repelled. “Once again, the city is being used as a lever to try to destabilize the country,” he said.

Conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said the rioting “hurts the entire country.”

“We are seeing scenes from a future that we must do our utmost to avert,” he said.

Papademos’ government _ an unlikely coalition of the majority Socialists and their main foes, New Democracy _ had been expected to carry the austerity vote. Combined, they control 236 of Parliament’s 300 seats.

Still, they faced strong dissent: Besides the 37 lawmakers who voted against the bill or abstained, a further six voted against sections of the proposed measures. After the vote, the coalition government announced those 43 lawmakers had been expelled.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the measures were vital to the country’s very economic survival.

“The question is not whether some salaries and pensions will be curtailed, but whether we will be able to pay even these reduced wages and pensions,” he told lawmakers before the vote. “When you have to choose between bad and worse, you will pick what is bad to avoid what is worse.”

The new cutbacks, which follow two years of harsh income losses and tax hikes amid a deep recession and record high unemployment have been demanded by Greece’s bailout creditors in return for a new batch of vital rescue loans.

Greece’s eurozone partners, meanwhile, kept up the pressure for real reform.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that Greece “cannot be a bottomless pit.”

Highlighting previous pledges he said weren’t kept, Schaeuble said “that is why Greece’s promises aren’t enough for us any more.”

Asked whether Greece has a long-term future in the eurozone, Germany’s Vice Chancellor Philip Roesler said “that is now in the hands of the Greeks alone.”

“It is not enough just to give financial aid _ they must tackle the second cause of the crisis, the lack of economic competitiveness,” he told said ARD television. “For that, they need … massive structural reforms. Otherwise Greece will not get out of the crisis.”

Introducing the legislation Sunday, Socialist lawmaker Sofia Yiannaka said the intense pressure from Greece’s EU partners to pass the measures was the result of delays in implementing already agreed reforms.

“The delays have our imprint. We should not blame foreigners for them,” she said. “We have finally found out that you have to pay back what you have borrowed.”

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Five staff at Britain’s largest selling tabloid The Sun were arrested Saturday along with three other people over alleged bribes paid to police and defense officials, detectives and the newspaper’s parent company said.

News. Corp said in a statement that police had searched the homes and offices of the five members of staff at the tabloid, long regarded regarded as the jewel in the crown of Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire.

A serving police officer, a female employee at the Ministry of Defense and a 36-year-old member of the armed forces were also arrested in an early morning swoop.

London’s Metropolitan Police said all eight people are being questioned, and confirmed they were detained following information provided to detectives by the management standards committee of News Corp.

The committee “will continue to ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to protect legitimate journalistic privilege and sources, private or personal information and legal privilege,” News Corp. said in a statement.

Police said their investigation relates to alleged corrupt payments made to police officers and other officials by journalists. It is part of a series of police investigations sparked by Britain’s tabloid phone hacking scandal.

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The European Central Bank is considering using its bond holdings to bolster Greece

Optimism over upcoming U.S. jobs figures helped stocks and the euro to rally on Friday despite further evidence that the 17-nation eurozone is heading for recession.

Following a run of fairly strong U.S. economic data, investors are increasingly confident that the world’s largest economy is over a soft patch from last summer, helping to offset the global economic impact wrought by Europe’s ongoing debt crisis.

Figures released Friday provided further evidence that the eurozone is heading for a recession. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said retail sales dropped 0.4 percent during the month, in contrast to expectations for an increase of the same amount.

The December data reinforced expectations that the eurozone contracted during the fourth quarter of the year. Eurostat is due to publish its first estimate for the quarter on Feb. 15.

The highlight of the day in the markets will be the monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls data. Expectations are that the U.S. economy generated around 150,000 jobs during January. Though that is unspectacular for an economy recovering from its worst recession since World War II, the amount of jobs being created is up from levels seen just a few months ago.

“Volatility is likely to remain low until these figures are out, with traders opting to sit and await news rather than heavily commit themselves,” said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.5 percent at 5,823 while Germany’s DAX rose 0.4 percent to 6,682. The CAC-40 in France was 0.5 percent higher at 3,394.

Wall Street was also poised for a solid opening, though how it actually performs will hinge on the payrolls data, which are released an hour before the bell free credit score. Dow futures and the S&P 500 futures were both up 0.2 percent.

The euro was also garnering support alongside stocks _ when appetite for risk is elevated, the euro often finds favour. It was trading 0.3 percent higher at $1.3177 despite the retail sales disappointment.

The focus on the U.S. has proved a welcome diversion for some traders from monitoring the daily grind of Europe’s debt crisis, where much hinges on whether Greece can secure a deal with its private creditors, as is anticipated. A deal is expected soon, though that has been the official line for a few weeks.

Earlier in Asia, the picture was mixed.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5 percent to close at 8,831.93 but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended marginally higher at 20,756.98.

Mainland Chinese shares extended gains fueled by news of fresh support for the farming and small-business sectors, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.8 percent to 2,330.41 while the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.5 percent to 878.29.

Oil markets were also relatively subdued. Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 40 cents to $96.76 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing _ which has already caused the closure of one tabloid, the News of the World _ to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London’s Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch’s News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World.

Officers were searching the men’s homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul’s British newspapers for evidence.

Police said Saturday’s arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch’s News Corp.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

“News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated,” it said in a statement.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch’s News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson _ who is also Prime Minister David Cameron’s former communications chief _ and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force’s top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

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Few U.S. companies plan to step up hiring in the next six months although they do expect the economy to be a bit stronger this year, according to a poll released on Monday.

The National Association for Business Economics’ industry survey found that two-thirds of respondents expected no change in employment at their companies over the first half of the year. That was the highest share in recent quarters.

Although the U.S. jobless rate fell to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent in December, fewer businesses said they would hire more workers, compared with the previous industry poll.

The survey, which was conducted between December 15 2011, and January 5 2012, found that 65 percent of respondents expect gross domestic product growth to exceed 2 percent between the fourth quarter of last year and the last quarter of 2012.

That was higher than the 1.6 percent growth rate economists polled by Reuters found.

About two-thirds of the companies surveyed said the European debt crisis would have little impact on their sales over the first half the year, while 27 percent of respondents said they expected to see a decline in sales of 10 percent or less.

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