Robert Iati of TowerGroup, a firm of consultants, points out that broking firms, for example, use information from a wide variety of sources, trading and payment systems, geographical locations and business units.

ECONOMIST: Security and financial services

We have broken down our analysis of Schlumberger along its four geographical divisions and one division for the revenues from its distributions business and other sources.

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Other data sources have blamed the lingering employment woes on a gap in the skills needed and those available, geographical constraints tied to the still-difficult housing market and the increase in the number of people dropping out of the workforce, a trend that is tied to an aging population.

FORBES: Why aren't companies hiring?

The leaders of countries that have spent heavily on solar and wind assumed that the erratic nature of these sources, and that the lack of storage, can be compensated by installing the facilities over a broad geographical area.

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