Cintas Corp. and the widow of a former employee who is suing the company will have another chance to settle her 2007 wrongful death lawsuit against the nation's largest uniform supplier.

Stocks closed sharply higher as a day-long rally gained steam after the Federal Reserve said the recession would end soon but that unemployment will continue rising.

Technology stocks rose more than 2 percent Wednesday following encouraging earnings, while a slew of economic reports fueled the notion the economy was showing stronger signs of a turnaround and boosted the broader market.

Wall Street has reestablished positive momentum, and that's likely to continue Wednesday morning after Intel beat expectations with its after-the-bell earnings report late Tuesday, and issued guidance that was well above consensus as well. 

Unemployment hit 8.9 percent in April and some predict that number could climb to over 10 percent in 2009 as major companies streamline operations to combat the recession.  But how far can this streamlining really go? For many companies, revenues hinge on worker productivity, and for most operations, per-worker profits and revenues are many multiples of average employee salaries. The measure of revenue per employee also helps shed light on a firm's money-making efficiency and likelihood it will retain jobs. The best companies require  the least number of workers to make the most money.