One in five adults in Britain not working

January 21, 2010

There are over eight million people who are “economically inactive”, a record number according to the Office for National Statistics.
These include students, retired, parents staying at home to look after children, long-term sick and those who have simply given up looking for a job – “discouraged” in the euphemistic language of the statisticians.
The 8.05 [...]

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Record gap between public and private sector pay

January 21, 2010

The gap between public and private sector wages has hit a record level, according to official figures.
Workers in the public sector are now being paid more than £2,000 extra a year compared with employees in the private sector, after public sector pay continued to race ahead of inflation.
The average public sector worker was paid £23,660 [...]

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City’s financial sector to grow by 100,000

January 19, 2010

City’s financial sector to grow by 100,000 new jobs within 10 years, predicts hedge fund.
London’s role as a financial centre is set to be boosted by the economic growth of emerging market countries, according to a top City hedge fund.
“The idea that London is going to full of tumbleweed in 10 years is not credible,” [...]

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UK business failures poised to rise this year

January 19, 2010

British business failures are set to rise in the second half of 2010 as Government and central bank support measures are unwound, the corporate distress specialist Begbies Traynor has warned.
It said that Government help had provided companies with “welcome relief” during the recession but despite the support more than 140,000 experienced “significant and critical” financial [...]

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UK ‘to grow faster’ than other major economies

January 19, 2010

Britain will turn in stronger growth than any other major economy next year, Goldman Sachs has declared, predicting a significantly stronger-than-expected recovery in the coming years.
The investment bank said that the pound’s 25pc depreciation over the course of the crisis would help boost exports, and broader economic growth, and turn the economy around. The forecast [...]

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Texting is so last year

January 17, 2010

The rapid pace of technology is creating ‘micro-generations’, where teenagers are left behind by younger siblings, says James Delingpole.
My 11-year-old son, like all 11-year-old sons, thinks his Dad is incredibly, risibly out-of-touch. He mocks me for using words like “video” when I mean “DVD”, for preferring CDs to free downloads, for watching TV on the [...]

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Why craft designers celebrated Christmas three times

January 17, 2010

Designers have notched up bumper sales through an online shop by celebrating Christmas not once but three times last year.
Some 1,500 craft designers operating through Notonthehighstreet.com saw sales rocket from £2.3m to £6.4m in 2009.
Half of those sales came in the traditional run up to Christmas, but the website’s co-founder Holly Tucker, 32, said [...]

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Microsoft is placing big bets on Office 2010

January 17, 2010

Microsoft is placing big bets on Office 2010 changing life for small businesses.
Microsoft is shifting its focus from selling small businesses licences to install its software to a subscription model as it prepares for the launch of Office 2010. The biggest innovations in Office 2010 are associated with mobile phone and internet connectivity.
Robert Epstein, head [...]

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Ex-Dragon damns UK stance on enterprise

January 17, 2010

Doug Richard, the entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den panellist who chaired the Conservatives’ small business task force, is to call for a complete overhaul of Government support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In a manifesto for enterprise to be published this week, Mr Richard will say that present Government policies hinder innovation and stifle economic development. [...]

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Council tax rise needed due to local government pensions black hole

January 17, 2010

Council tax will rise and services face cuts to plug the looming £60 billion hole in local government pensions, the Liberal Democrats have warned.
The “most vulnerable” people in society, including pensioners, would be hardest hit as councils attempt to reduce the pension deficit, the party said.
Council tax could be increased by hundreds of millions of [...]

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