The OECD has reported that the UK economy grew by a mere 0.7% in the last year, making it the second worst performing economy in the G7 nations. Only Japan’s economy performed worse than ours and it had the earthquake and tsunami to contend with.

Umbrella company contractors might be concerned to learn that recruiter Hays made a rather embarrassing gaffe last week when one of its employees sent an email to staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland disclosing the pay rate of RBS contractors!

A lack of internships and entry-level jobs could lead to a lost generation of graduates, HR directors are warning.

Umbrella contractors may be interested to learn that the government recently disclosed the locations of the remaining 13 English Enterprise Zones that it hopes will help kick-start economic growth.

New research from the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks shows that an increasing number of older Brits are foregoing retirement and setting up a business instead.

The latest London Employment Monitor from Morgan McKinley shows that there was a 10% month-on-month decline in the number of new City jobs last month.

Recent research findings from Badenoch & Clark show that nearly 67% of public workers have decided to remain in their current position and 31% say they are happy in their current role. Yorkshire has the highest percentage of content employees at 44.7%.

Property website Rightmove says this is the second consecutive month in which house prices have fallen in England and Wales.

The latest Business Trends report from BDO shows that business confidence is plummeting as growth in the manufacturing sector seems to have stagnated.

Flex Plus recruitment consultancy has warned that the Agency Workers Regulations could drive up supply chain costs.

Contractors who have not chosen to invoice through a reputable umbrella company may need to know that the long-awaited tax treaty between the UK and Switzerland should be signed at the end of this month.

Official figures from HMRC show that people are saving more in tax-free ISAs than ever before.