President Obama on Saturday focused on his economic agenda during his first weekly address following several days of allegations regarding abuse of power by the White House. Obama touched on his Friday visits to a dredging-equipment manufacturer and an elementary school in Baltimore. Those visits, he said, underscored his goals to create a “rising, thriving middle class.”

This post was written by Bill Payne in conjunction with Angel Capital Association. Bill is has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980. He has funded over 50 companies and mentored over 100. Bill is also a founding member of four angel organizations: Aztec Venture Network, Tech Coast Angels, Vegas Valley Angels, and Frontier Angel Fund.

The retirement prospects of Americans are slipping for the first time in generations, according to a report released Thursday, adding a new voice to those warning that future retirees face the risk of downward mobility when they leave the workforce. The report by the Pew Charitable Trusts said that Americans born after 1955 are carrying more debt than the generations that came before them

After collecting their degrees from Washington University today, most members of the class of 2013 will head for a job or graduate school. Abigail Cohen and Andrew Brimer will be working for themselves instead. As recipients of an Arch Grants award, the two will set up an office downtown for their company, Sparo Labs. They’re developing a medical device that they think can revolutionize the treatment of respiratory diseases.

By now it is almost gospel that investing in innovative new products and services helps a company’s long-term success. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. A new study from Accenture, “Why ‘Low Risk’ Innovation Is Costly,” found that fewer than one in five chief executives believes his strategic investments in innovation are paying off, and that this poor track record is starting to discourage companies from taking risks.

The most expensive hospital in America is not set amid the swaying palm trees of Beverly Hills or the luxury townhouses of New York’s Upper East Side. It is in a faded blue-collar town 11 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Based on the bills it submits to Medicare, the Bayonne Medical Center charged the highest amounts in the country for nearly one-quarter of the most common hospital treatments

Five anonymous donors provided the $6.9 million used to run JobsOhio in its first year, IRS records show.Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development agency and its wholly owned subsidiary, the JobsOhio Beverage System, raised the money between July 5, 2011 — the day JobsOhio opened — and June 30, 2012.

Eight members of Congress on Thursday formally demanded that Google address a range of privacy concerns about its new wearable technology device, Google Glass. The letter, addressed to Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, outlined eight questions for Google and asked for a response by June 14. “We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of the average American,” the letter said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch defended his amendments on visas for highly-skilled workers in the Gang of Eight's immigration bill on Thursday, saying the proposed changes are key to winning his support and getting other GOP votes for the sweeping measure. "We've got to iron out the H-1B situation so it doesn't push businesses to hire people overseas, which is what the current language will do."

Canada has landed in Silicon Valley with a brazen message: Give us your smart, your restless, your huddled Googleplex workers yearning to breathe life into the high-tech economy up north. As the U.S. Congress wrestles with a long-sought overhaul of America's immigration system, the Canadian government is trying to poach talented immigrants frustrated by U.S. visa policy.

The state Economic Development Authority awarded $698 million in tax incentives, grants and loans to 228 projects last year, according to a year-end summary released today by the agency tasked with spurring economic growth in New Jersey. According to Chief Executive Officer Michele Brown, the awards generated $1.46 billion in private and public funding and created 4,822 new jobs.

Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom. And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it. The coke comes from a refinery alongside the river owned by Marathon Petroleum, which has been there since 1930. But it began refining exports from the Canadian oil sands — and producing the waste that is sold to Koch — only in November.

North Dakota is promoting its business climate at Minnesota's expense, and some politicians east of the Red River are not happy about it. The Greater North Dakota Chamber has started a campaign that mocks proposals in the Minnesota Legislature, including bills that would raise certain taxes. A chamber release said Minnesota politicians are "making a strong case for business to come across the border to North Dakota."

The Obama administration drew sharp criticism from environmental and oil industry groups Thursday when it issued a new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands. In its first update of hydraulic fracturing regulations in three decades, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management would require wider disclosure of chemicals used in drilling.

Oil and gas companies nearly doubled their production from Ohio’s Utica shale last year, part of an energy surge that is still in its early stages and whose potential is far from clear. However industry leaders and analysts were more cautious in their response to the report, however, saying there is not enough information to make any broad statements about the shale formation’s potential.

Groupon co-founder and former Chief Executive Andrew Mason is heading to San Francisco to work with entrepreneurs and launch a new company. The former CEO announced on his personal blog that he's "accumulated a backlog of ideas over the last several years" and will be turning his favorite one into a company this fall.