The week-long build-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl almost had us convinced nothing else newsworthy was happening last week. The reality, however, is far different. Once again, we’ve scoured online resources for the week’s top news and analysis in business and manufacturing to bring you this recap — our second weekly working crib sheet.

Fed Cuts 0.5 Percent
The Federal Reserve on January 25 cut a key interest rate for the second time in just over a week, reducing the federal funds rate by a half point. It signaled that further rate cuts were possible. The Fed’s move was part of a one-two punch by Washington aimed at jolting the economy with easier credit and extra money.

Business Leaders Losing Confidence
Just 35 percent of North American CEOs said they were very confident about growth compared with 53 percent last year, says PricewaterhouseCoopers. A potential economic downturn fuels the North American CEOs’ declining confidence. The decline in confidence wasn’t quite so dramatic in Western Europe. Confidence among CEOs in China and India was high — 73 percent and 90 percent.

Consumer Sentiment Rises
U.S. consumer sentiment rose in January, according to a consumer sentiment survey released Friday by the University of Michigan and Reuters. The index rose to 78.4 in January from 75.5 in December, though economists expected a result of 79.0. The current conditions index rose to 94.4 from 91.0, while the expectations index climbed to 68.1 from 65.6.

Consumer Spending Slowed in December
Consumers increased their spending at the weakest pace in six months while applications for unemployment benefits soared two weeks ago, two more signs the economy is weakening, AP reports. Personal outlays, personal interest payments and personal current transfer payments increased $19.7 billion in December, compared with an increase of $90.7 billion in November, says the Commerce Department.

Optimism Was Lowest in 4 Years
According to the Q4 Manufacturing Barometer, a study done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), U.S. industrial manufacturers’ optimism plummeted to 29 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, down from 64 percent one year ago. This was the lowest level of domestic optimism recorded since the inception of the Barometer in Q3 2003. The survey is based on interviews with senior executives of large, multinational U.S. industrial manufacturing companies.

PMI Rises 2.3 Percent in January
The manufacturing sector gained momentum in January as “the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) rose 2.3 percent, signaling stronger performance in January when compared to the seasonally adjusted 48.4 percent recorded in December,” according to the Institute for Supply Management’s latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. “This represents a return to the recent trend of slow growth in manufacturing, as the PMI has averaged 50.2 percent for the past six months.”

Weekly Jobless Claims Make Larger-than-Expected Jump
First-time claims for state unemployment benefits rocketed higher in the week ending Jan. 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number of initial claims in the latest week rose 69,000 to 375,000 — the highest level since early October and the largest increase since September 2005. The jump was much larger than expected.

Personal Income Up 0.5 Percent in December
Overall United States personal income and disposable personal income each rose 0.5 percent December 2007, says the U.S. Bureau of Economic Affairs. But manufacturing payrolls decreased $2 billion in December after increasing $2.5 billion in November.

Support Grows for Employer-Provided Health Coverage
Most Americans favor keeping a role for employers in paying for health insurance but believe that coverage should be the shared responsibility of employers, individuals and government, a new survey by the Commonwealth Fund finds: 81 percent of Americans believe that to help reach the goal of health insurance for everyone, employers should either provide health insurance to their workers or contribute to the cost of their coverage.

Katrina Levee Lawsuit Dismissed
“Saying his hands were tied by law, a federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina, but rebuked the agency for failing to protect the city,” The Associated Press reports (via The Clarion Ledger). The judge cited the Flood Control Act of 1928, which “protects the federal government from lawsuits when flood control projects like levees break.”

Where’s the Tsunami Detector?
A crucial part of a tsunami detection system placed in Indonesia’s busy Sunda Strait has gone missing amid indications that it was removed deliberately, an Indonesian official said Thursday. Based on Agence France-Presse’s report (via MSN), the detector’s last signal came on Dec. 30, 2007. So if you see it in a flea market or bazaar, let the authorities know.

Tainted Leukemia Drugs Linked to Chinese Exporter
A state-owned Chinese pharmaceutical company, Shanghai Hualian, has created a scandal after its contaminated drugs paralyzed or otherwise harmed some 200 cancer patients. Chinese drug regulators closed the factory that produced the tainted cancer-treatment drugs, reports the International Herald Tribune. According to the country’s State Food and Drug Administration, a criminal investigation against the offender is being carried out.

Mattel’s Profit Rose 15 Percent
Mattel Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 15 percent (year over year) as tax gains helped offset $110 million charges related to product recalls. “Mattel has significantly increased spot testing and other safety protocols since the recalls” last year and in Mexico destroyed 175,000 lead-tainted toys,” the company said in a statement.

Isuzu Scales Back
Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors will discontinue selling passenger vehicle sales in the U.S., effective Jan. 31, 2009, the company announced last week. This results from “prospective cessation of production by General Motors Corporation” of the Isuzu SUV and two pickup trucks. Parts will still be available and service will continue.

Spacewalk Repair Boosts Station’s Power
The recent spacewalk involved replacing a Bearing Motor Roll Ring Module (BMRRM). Called the “broom,” the motor drives the starboard solar wings as they tilt along their axis to follow the sun for optimal power generation as the station orbits the Earth, NASA explains.

Image credit: NASA

DOE Cuts Coal-Powered Plant Program
The U.S. Department of Energy has canceled its program on “how to use coal without adding to global warming,” The New York Times reports. The cancellation came after the estimated cost of plant construction grew from $1 billion to $1.8 billion. The department said it would start over with a new program, but that’s unlikely to happen before November’s presidential election.