It’s no secret that most Americans work more than 40 hours a week, but are those extra hours necessary? "So many people say, ‘I have to do this,’ but they might just be putting those expectations on themselves," says Maura Thomas, productivity expert, author, and founder of RegainYourTime.com. Many people make assumptions about what their boss wants without ever testing the waters to find out if it’s true. (Fast Company)

After a comfortable two-year spell of cheap fuel and no major crises to dampen travel demand, U.S. airlines are in for what looks to be a more turbulent 2017. Buckle up. (Bloomberg)

Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky are often referred to as the fathers of behavioral economics, for demonstrating that the human brain relies on mental shortcuts and biases in decision-making, which often leads people to irrational ends. (The Atlantic)

Are you headed into January with hopes of a big new job? Then we’ve got great news: Now is a better time than ever to land a gig. If you need proof, take a look at these 20 companies that are all kicking off the brand new year by hiring like crazy for tons of different positions. (The Muse)

Have a New Year's resolution to work from home more this year — maybe to spend more time with your children or save some gas money? Thanks to the flexible world of the Internet, I've been able to work away from The Post's D.C. office for about a year and a half now — joining an estimated 37 percent of Americans who say they've telecommuted. Working from home can have its own charms and challenges. Here's what I've learned about teleworking in my time away, including some tech tips to make sure that your office of one keeps chugging along. (The Washington Post)

C-suite executives don’t know where you stand if you don’t tell them. As they work on succession planning, they’re eager to help you succeed. Ideally, they’d like to have a phalanx of executives-in-waiting so the organization thrives over the long term. Knowing you are someone who produces stellar results and has the ambition to move forward is the powerful combination they’re looking for, and it will make them more willing to invest in you. (Harvard Business Review)

Almost everyone wins when it comes to referral hiring, through which an employee recommends someone for an opening at his or her company. The job applicant comes in the door with a personal recommendation and is therefore more likely to get the job. Companies cut hiring costs since referral hires take less time, start the job quicker, and stay at companies longer. The referral hires themselves report higher levels of satisfaction. And the original employee who did the referring often gets a nice cash bonus and a new work friend. It's a nice, closed-loop system that works out well for everyone—that is, unless you don't have the right network to get the job. Referral hiring isn't great for diversity. (Bloomberg)

A recent LinkedIn study found that, despite the heightened press, a majority of tech leaders don't know what they are actually doing to make their organizations more diverse. And unless real action is taken, 2017 won’t bring about any seismic changes. (Fast Company)

Consumer prices across the euro area reached a high not seen for almost four years, jumping 1.1 percent in December, the EU's statistical office reported Wednesday. The flash estimate indicated that inflation in the region reached its highest level since September of 2013, mainly supported by a surge in energy prices. (CNBC)

Global markets spent most of 2016 adjusting to the reality of a slow but steady weakening of China’s currency. Now, it is Beijing that appears uncomfortable with that state of affairs. Financial regulators appear to have grown increasingly concerned in recent weeks about the pace of the renminbi’s depreciation and the amount of capital flowing out of the country. (The New York Times)

Robert Smith, who made his fortune in private equity, has offered to sponsor the education of at least 24 young women from the embattled community destroyed by Boko Haram. (The Voice)

In the new year, about half of French workers could enjoy the "right to disconnect" from work email during their off hours. A new law, which took effect January 1, requires businesses with 50 or more employees to negotiate after-hours email rules with their employees, potentially giving them the right to ignore that late-night missive. (NBC)

In a business school classroom in Spain, a computer alerts the professor that one of her students is losing interest. This is no ordinary lecture hall. It’s the Instituto de Empresa’s "WOW" room, or the "Window on the World," a place the Spanish business school believes is the future of the master’s in business administration. (The Wall Street Journal)

Are traditional two-year MBA programs on the way out? Will online programs put an end to classroom-based study? What will the MBAs of the future learn? Where will they learn? And how? We spoke to MBAs from some of the world’s top business schools who told us five ways business education will change in 2017. (Business Because)

Can a mobile app that teaches cooking and nutrition using comics and animation help African Americans make better choices in regards to healthy eating and wellness? (Black Enterprise)

CBR’s Ellie Burns sat down with Kriti Sharma, VP of Bots and AI at Sage, to talk about the dangerous projection of human bias on artificial intelligence. In what seems to be a case of life imitating art when it comes to sexism in AI, Ms Sharma argues how a gender-neutral, inclusive AI world could have a real-world impact on diversity and equality in the tech workplace. (Computer Business Review)

Hulu, one of several companies vying to create a lower-cost alternative to cable bundles, will include CBS when its streaming television service is unveiled this year, the company announced on Wednesday. (The New York Times)

With the new year upon, many of us are setting resolutions for our personal and professional lives. Are you looking to transition from an employee to an entrepreneur? Do you want to solve needs in new and profitable ways? Do you want to take risks to move your business to the next level? Are you ready to step out and raise venture capital for your business, or are you hoping to be better a leader or person overall? Below are five books to help you turn those resolution ideas for 2017 into a plan of action: (Black Enterprise)

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the launch of the 2017 InnovateHER: Innovating for Women Business Challenge, a nationwide business competition to drive attention and resources to innovative products and services that make our lives easier and longer. Competitors vie for $70,000 in prize money provided to SBA for the InnovateHER competition through a gift from the Sara Blakely Foundation. (Black PRWire)

Sears on Thursday announced that it has agreed to sell its Craftsman tools brand to Stanley Black & Decker in a deal valued at $900 million, the latest bid by the flailing retail chain to try to drum up cash to reposition itself for an era when e-commerce is gobbling up more of our shopping dollars and department stores have lost their luster. (The Washington Post)

The dollar weakened against the yen for a second day as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting signaled uncertainty over how President-elect Donald Trump’s policies would impact the pace of U.S. interest-rate increases. (Bloomberg)

Whether they shout "Roll Tide" or spell out "C-L-E-M-S-O-N," fans at college football's national championship are going to pay a lot to get into the stands. The average resale price of a ticket to Monday's Alabama-Clemson game is $2,945, a record for the college title game, according to TicketIQ, which tracks sales. (CNN Money)

If there's one thing most Americans can agree on, it's that 2016 was a pretty rocky year on the whole. But apparently, it's not just politics and violence that have us unusually stressed. According to a new Gallup poll, Americans worried more about their finances in 2016 than they did the previous year. (USA TODAY)

It’s a new year and that means another opportunity to grow your investment portfolio, pay down debt and save for the future. It’s also a time to reflect on the past year, and to assess what went right, what went wrong and what you can do better in your financial life. (Forbes)

After seeing sales drop during the holidays, Macy's said Wednesday it has either closed or will shutter 68 stores and cut an additional 6,200 positions at a time when shoppers are going online to buy everything from scarves to lipstick. (USA TODAY)

Wells Fargo Advisors has reached a $35.5 million settlement with a group of African-American financial advisers who claimed the firm discriminated against them due to their race. (Investment News)

Fair lending will be the priority for the nation’s consumer financial cop on the beat. Mortgage and student loan servicing along with redlining and small business lending will be a triple-focus in 2017 for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). (BlackPressUSA)

A U.S. regulator on Tuesday ordered credit reporting agencies TransUnion and Equifax to pay more than $23.2 million in fines and restitution for deceiving consumers about the usefulness and cost of credit scores they bought. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the payments also resolve charges that TransUnion and Equifax lured consumers into enrolling in credit services advertised as free or costing only $1, but which could cost more than $200 a year. (CNBC)

The president of the NAACP led an occupation of Sen. Jeff Sessions' Mobile, Alabama, office Tuesday, demanding that Sessions withdraw his name from consideration as attorney general of the incoming Trump administration. (International Business Times)

The best performers are, of course, consistent. Consistent leaders work hard and show up on time. They set goals for themselves and their employees and they achieve them. They plan diligently and produce excellent products and experiences for clients time and time again. They are diligent and possess resilience and grit. (Harvard Business Review)

In its last survey on the prevalence of consumer fraud in the U.S., the FTC found that 10.8 percent of adults (25.6 million people) had been victims in the twelve months covered by the survey. The numbers were higher for African American (17.3 percent) and Latino (13.4 percent) consumers than for non-Hispanic whites (9.0 percent). (The Jackson Sun)

Bae, the fastest-growing dating app for African-American millennial singles in the U.S., is going international. The app was just acquired by if(we), the parent company of Tagged, one of the largest dating sites in the world, with an eye to becoming the place for black singles to meet, play, engage, and find love. The Bae name is being retired and its users will be streamlined into Tagged and its global dating pool. (Fast Company)