The U.S. retained its No.-1 spot in the annual “Rankings of the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006.” Released by the IMD business school of Lausanne, Switzerland, the rankings are based on a study of 61 national and regional economies.

Retaining its 2005 runner-up status was Hong Kong, while Singapore and Iceland remained in third and fourth, respectively. Denmark moved up to 5th place, from 7th in 2005; and Australia moved up to 6th place after placing 9th last year. Canada dropped from 7th to 5th place, and Switzerland retained its 2005 spot in 8th place. Luxembourg and Finland rounded out the top 10, respectively.