It appears that the economy is starting to gain some speed.  On top of yesterday’s big ADP private sector jobs number we found out layoffs in December were down 32% from the year before at 30,623.  That is the lowest number of layoffs since 1999. Total layoffs in 2013 were the lowest since 1997.  (Challenger Report)

Same stores sales rocked the house for both Costco and Macy’s.  December same store sales for Costco were up 3%. Foreign exchange rates were a 2% drag on that number.  Costco saw a big pickup in online sales. (Rueters)

For Macy’s sales climbed 3.6% in November and December from the year before.  They will also be laying off 2500 person as they find efficiencies in their operations (Reuters)

Overall retail sales in November and December were up 2.7% from the prior year, according to ShopperTrack.  That is better than expected.  What was surprising was store visits were down almost 15% as shoppers appear to be doing online research and doing less in-store browsing. Online sales increased 10% during the period. (Associated Press)

Who was the big winner of this week’s college national championship game?  The Florida State coach.  Jimbo Fisher got a $550,000 bonus when his team won the game.  That is on top of his $2.75 million salary. College football is big time business. (Bloomberg)