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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has canceled scores of oil and gas leases sold by the Bush administration in Utah's red rock country. The sales would have brought $6 million to the government, in addition to royalties on any oil or gas production.

The government has announced the U.S. economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years. That because consumers and businesses cut spending. Layoffs that began in the real estate and finance sectors are now hitting workers in nearly every field. Some iconic firms are slashing jobs by the thousands.

The spate of nationwide layoffs continues. Companies announced cuts to more than 40,000 on Monday. Barry Ritholtz, CEO and director of equity research at Fusion IQ who writes about the economy at his blog, The Big Picture, says layoffs are likely to continue for some time to come.

In his new book, Food Matters, Mark Bittman writes about the environmental impact of industrial farming — and how individuals can make a difference by cutting down on the amount of animal products they consume.

Microsoft, a component of all three major stock indexes, said business is so bad, it must cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months. That marks the software bellwether's first major round of layoffs in its history. Earlier this week, Intel also announced 5,000 cuts — not good news for the tech sector.

By most countries' standards, China's economy is flourishing. It grew almost 7 percent in the last quarter and 9 percent for 2008. Still, that was a slowdown, snapping a five-year streak of double-digit growth. China is the world's third-largest economy after the United States and Japan.

Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee will question Attorney General nominee Eric Holder at his confirmation hearing Thursday. Holder has strong support in the Senate, but some Republicans on the panel say they will ask him about aspects of his private legal practice and some of his decisions while serving as deputy and acting attorney general under President Clinton.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that a whopping 2.6 million jobs disappeared in 2008 and that an estimated 11 million Americans are looking for work. Three recent college graduates — Mimi Wong, Sarah Ahmad and Kelsey Schwenk — describe the frustrations and fears of finding themselves unemployed.

The U.S. Labor Department says the nation's unemployment rate in December rose to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent. Employers cut 524,000 jobs during the month. The report also showed that 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, the most since 1945.

The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 7.2 percent last month. It's the highest level in nearly 16 years. Governments and businesses cut more than half a million jobs in December. For all of 2008, the economy lost 2.6 million jobs.