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Many smokers are feeling a greater squeeze on their wallets as more states increase cigarette taxes, while most states have held the line on gas and sales tax rates over the last year, according to CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a leading provider of tax information, software and services.

In the OECD area, consumer prices rose by 2.2% in the year to May 2007, unchanged compared with the year to April 2007. On a monthly basis, the price level rose by 0.4% in May 2007 after 0.5% between March and April 2007.

With 100 million items on sale, eBay is the king of online auctions. But almost half of the eBay buyers that Consumer Reports surveyed encountered deceptions, according to a report in the August issue.

A recent study commissioned by the international accounting firm Ernst and Young, the "European Attractiveness Survey 2007," highlights Germany's advantages as an outstanding investment location. Investors see Germany's infrastructure, quality of research and development, workforce education, and political stability as major advantages.

Slovenia should strengthen its efforts to raise public and private sector awareness about the fight against foreign bribery, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

The euro area started 2007 on a healthy footing, finds the Quarterly Report on the Euro Area. Economic growth in the first quarter reached 3% in annualised terms spurred by domestic demand, particularly investment. Consumption contracted slightly but is expected to recover quickly as consumer confidence approaches an all-time high. Export growth decelerated, but this reflects mainly statistical effects and, possibly, a cooling off of the international environment rather than the appreciation of the euro. The focus section of the report shows that financial integration clearly has positive effects on economic growth and is also important for the smooth functioning of EMU. Therefore, euro-area Member States have even more to gain from financial integration than other EU Member States.

Euro area (EA13) seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 7.0% in May 2007, compared with 7.1% in April. It was 7.9% in May 2006.

In May 2007, compared with the previous month, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector rose by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU27. Prices in the energy sector increased by 0.5% in the euro area, and remained stable in the EU27. In both zones, intermediate goods gained 0.5%, non-durable consumer goods 0.2% and capital goods and durable consumer goods 0.1%.

The National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC), a subsidiary of Lundquist Consulting, Inc. releases findings that the second quarter of 2007 marked the fifth consecutive increase in bankruptcy filings since the first quarter of 2006. The second quarter 2007 filings numbered 200,732, an 11.6 percent growth over the first quarter of 2007 and a 40.6 percent growth over the second quarter of 2006.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of UK employers surveyed said they increased their staffs in the last three months. Fueled by a stable economy, this momentum is expected to continue with 26 per cent of employers indicating they plan to add a larger number of employees in the second half of 2007 compared to the first. Only one-in-ten employers said they will not be adding to headcount for the rest of this year.