Today's number: 10.4% - Germany's jobless rate in July, up from 10.2 percent in June, with 94,500 more people out of work than in the previous month in Europe's largest economy, according to government figures.

--The Associated Press

Today's money tip

Make sure you repay a 401(k) loan before leaving your job. Loans can be characterized as distributions, subject to taxes and a 10 percent penalty, if you leave for any reason before a plan loan is paid. That's one reason why taking loans from 401(k)s is typically not encouraged.

--Amy Higgins

Today's career talk

One of the first covenants between management and labor in America came on pirate ships that plied the waters of the Atlantic and terrorize Spanish and English sailing ships. Penalties had real bite, too, according to Milton Meltzer, author of Piracy and Plunder. "If (a sailor) defrauds the company to the value of even one dollars in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another, he shall have his nose and ears slit and be put ashore."

--John Eckberg

TODAY'S COMPANY: BRILLIANT PROMOTIONS INC.

BENGALS AND BEYOND: Peggy Johns established her promotional products company in Springdale in 1986. The venture's original focus was producing team apparel, and when the Bengals went to the Super Bowl, Brilliant joined with JTM to create "Welcome to the Jungle" merchandise. With the increasing popularity of business casual clothing, the company has become a supplier of corporate image apparel and industrial uniforms.

GROWING IN FAIRFIELD: The company has just relocated to a new 10,000-square-foot showroom and production facility on Port Union Road in Fairfield. It's the company's second expansion in six years and gives Brilliant an additional 2500 square feet of work space and an environmentally-controlled screen room. Storage space enables the company to store merchandise and ship to clients as they need it.

MAKING THEIR MARK: Brilliant's embroidery machines take 500-1,000 stitches per minute, depending on the setting. Its automated textile printer can handle up to 10-color designs. Two manual presses have a six-color capacity.

READY FOR AN IMPRINT: Non-textile promotional items range from key chains to pen sets to toys.

--Jenny Callison