Time is running out for Christmas shoppers, but even more so for those who need to ship those presents. UPS hired about 55,000 seasonal workers around the world to help handle the holiday volume, including 800 at the air hub in Louisville, Kentucky.

Given the product's high price — and the region's weak economies — shoppers just haven't bitten. Apple's market share has dropped in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Economists say the black unemployment rate is so high — 15.5 percent — for a number of reasons, like less education, job discrimination and huge slashes in public sector jobs. Blacks make up about 10 percent of the full-time working population but 27 percent of the long-term unemployed, an NPR/Kaiser survey found.

Harsh austerity measures, new taxes and the specter of a deep recession are keeping even wealthy Italians from indulging on Christmas this holiday season. Not only are high-end stores empty, but even fruit vendors and trinket stalls are desperate for customers.

Robert Siegel speaks with Bill Marriott Jr., CEO of Marriott International, who is retiring after 39 years.

In one FedEx warehouse, workers sift and sort through 166 packages per minute on long conveyor belts. More online retailers are offering later-guaranteed arrivals than ever. It's a procrastinator's paradise — even for the facility's manager, who says he hasn't started Christmas shopping yet.