Key committees in the US House of Representatives will hold hearings in weeks to come in an attempt to design another multi-billion dollar stimulus package for US taxpayers, said Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker on Wednesday.

Pelosi, a Democrat, announced that the Congress may meet for a lame duck session to approve a projected $150 billion package if the committees can convince the lawmakers of the need for additional funds to revive the ailing economy. The projected package would include new spending on infrastructure, expansion of unemployment insurance and food stamps as well as on health plans like Medicaid for children and seniors.

The House committees entrusted with the job of urging the legislators to pass another recovery bill are the House Budget Committee, Ways and Means Committee, Education and Labour Committee as well as the Joint Economic Committee.

Earlier this year, President Bush had signed into law $168 billion stimulus package which was handed out in checks to US taxpayers and went some way in spurring a short term growth before the markets crashed and billions of dollars were wiped out in the meltdown. Last month House Republicans rejected a proposal for passing a similar stimulus package which would have helped to boost a flagging economy.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has announced job cuts totalling 1000 in an attempt to close a deficit of $1.4 billion in the state budget as the economy staggers and growth declines.

Governor Patrick, a Democrat who took over last year plans to lower spending and undertake a series of cost cutting measures in an effort to bridge the $1.4 billion gap that has appeared in the state budget. Foremost among the cost-saving measures are around 1000 job cuts in various state departments as well as lowering contributions to state pension fund by around $100 million. These steps are expected to save the state of Massachusetts around $1 billion. The Governor intends to shore up another $200 million by dipping into the state’s $1.8 billion rainy day fund but this is a step that will first require approval by the state legislature.

The state of Massachusetts has around 40,000 employees in its various departments. Even though the Governor declined to put an estimate on the number of jobs to be slashed in each agency, he warned that residents of Massachusetts should be ready to put up with delays in getting driver’s licenses, fewer community police patrols as well as limited state park maintenance. Massachusetts is one of the 21 states which together with District of Columbia face a combined shortfall of $8.9 billion in their state budgets as taxes dry up and unemployment rises.

Japan’s most important stock index the Nikkei tanked by more than 10% at one point in early Thursday trading driven by tottering US stock markets and recession fears across the globe.

On Thursday morning, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged by 911.91 points or 9.55% to close at 8635.56 in the early session. At one time, the fall in the index had almost reached 10.34% in early trade. Japan’s broader Topix index too marked a significant decline and fell by more than 7% to close at 883.21 in morning session on Thursday.

The steep fall in Japan’s stock markets resulted from growing fears of a recession in major economies across the globe. On Wednesday, a report released by the US Department of Commerce revealed that retail sales in the US fell by 1.2% in September, almost double the forecast of 0.7%. The report led to a massive plunge in New York stock markets with the Dow falling by 7.87 % or 733.08 points. The chaos was further exacerbated by remarks made by the Federal Reserve Chief Bernard Bernanke, that patching up the credit markets would not result in an immediate boost to the economy. In Japan the worst-hit were the export-related stocks since worsening retail conditions in US mean lower demand for Japanese goods.

American Airlines is set to splurge on 42 new jets for a price tag of $8 billion, despite struggling to cope with one of the worst slumps to hit the US aviation industry in recent times.

The biggest carrier of United States, American Airlines announced on Wednesday that it planned to acquire 42 new Boeing 787 aircrafts besides acquiring the rights to buy up to 58 jets of Boeing 787-9 class. The new 787 aircrafts burn up to 20% less fuel than the older generation of jets and this figures as the main operational reason behind the airline’s buying spree. American Airlines spent a whopping $2.72 billion on fuel alone between July and September this year and is thus keen to upgrade to newer jets that burn less fuel.

However officials at American agree that this is not the most convenient of times to go aircraft shopping. The US aviation industry is going through one of its worst slumps, owing to rising jet fuel costs and declining passenger traffic. However American Airlines is hoping that by the time the new jets are ready for delivery – starting in 2012 and running through 2018 – the airline industry will be in a better shape.

A recent study of workplace psychology has found out that those workers who use and are surrounded by positive humour at their workplace have higher levels of job satisfaction than compared to those who don’t.

Maren Rawlings, psychologist from the Swinburne University of Technology, surveyed 300 workers from 20 countries about their individual use of humour in the workplace and how they perceived humour used by their colleagues. Results showed that more positive the humour factor at the workplace, the greater the job satisfaction among the workers.

Rawlings further elaborates that in the study, personality and mood combined with use of humour contributed to over 40% of the job satisfaction levels among workers. Her findings corroborate results from previous research which posit a strong correlation between a worker’s job satisfaction and level of productivity. Common sense too suggests that only when an individual is satisfied with the work environment can he or she deliver the best and be an asset to the employer.

However Rawling’s research and its result offer a contradiction to the long-held misconception that employees who enjoy themselves at the workplace and make jokes are unproductive at best and a distraction to other workers, at worst.