2011 | featured news

Americans spent $50.96 billion on their pets in 2011. That's an all-time high and the first time in history more than $50 billion has gone to the dogs, cats, canaries, guppies and the like, the American Pet Products Association said in a report issued Thursday.

Retail sales barely rose in December, but the gain was enough to lift sales to a record level for 2011. It marked the largest annual increase in more than a decade. Sales inched up 0.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted $400.6 billion, The Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the second straight month that sales have topped $400 billion. Never before had monthly sales reached that level.

The final weeks of 2011 were the economy's strongest since it appeared to be slipping toward recession in late spring.

When top retailers post their December sales this week, Wall Street analysts are expecting them to report a healthy end to the holiday season, helped by discounts, improved consumer sentiment and tactics like extended hours and layaways.

U2 raked in $156 million from 25 shows in 21 North American cities in 2011, making the band the highest-grossing touring act of the year, according to Pollstar. Worldwide, the group pulled in $231.9 million for the year. Taylor Swift just missed the $100 million mark in North America, earning $97.7 million over 80 dates in 59 cities on her "Speak Now" tour. Other top-grossing acts were Kenny Chesney ($84.6 million), Lady Gaga ($63.7 million) and Bon Jovi ($57.1 million), who were the biggest earners of 2010.

In a year when Borders went out of business and Oprah's Book Club disappeared, e-book sales surged and self-published authors got rich selling 99-cent digital books. But it also was a good year for an old print lion —Ernest Hemingway— and books about a famous 20th-century couple, Jack and Jackie. USA TODAY looks back at the rapidly changing world of books in 2011.

A monthly survey showed consumers’ confidence in the economy surged in December and was near a post-recession peak, although home prices fell in October in most major U.S. cities.

The Company Man, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit; $13.99). This novel, set in 1919 in a vast industrial metropolis in the Pacific Northwest, is a genuine original, something like an episode of "The X-Files" written by...

"The Protester" has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2011. The selection was announced Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. The magazine cited dissent across the Middle East that has spread to Europe and the United States, and says these protesters are reshaping global politics.

Three women who fought injustice, dictatorship and sexual violence in Liberia and Yemen have received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital.