DAVID GREENE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a spike in visa applications.

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GREENE: Yesterday marked the start of the application period for H1B visa. These are the work permits granted to 85,000 skilled foreigners each year. Many of them work in the high-tech industry. Now for the first time since the financial crisis hit in 2008, the quotas for the H1B are expected to be filled in a single week. And analysts are pointing to this as a sign the U.S. economy may be returning to gross levels seen before the crash. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.