On the job front, the January employment report showed payroll gains of 113,000 jobs, following an increase of 75,000 jobs in December, which was below many analysts’ expectations. Yet, these numbers were affected by the unseasonably cold and snowy weather. Indeed, winter weather has continued to be unusually disruptive, and that is making it difficult to assess underlying economic trends.
Al-Amanah Bank was established in 1973. While it has been over four decades since the creation of the first Islamic Bank, Islamic banking itself has not grown in large part because of legal constraints. The Al-Amanah Charter created the Bank but not a framework for Islamic banking per se. No such enabling law has so far been passed.