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According to TNS' Investor Confidence Index, there was a significant decline in confidence amongst affluent American investors in May 2010. The Investor Confidence Index is now at 100, down from the December 2009 result of 112. This most recent result reflects a reversal of much of the gains made in investor confidence since the post-crisis low of 81 was measured in October of 2008.

With the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, a very positive development of small and medium enterprises (SME) has come to a halt. Between 2002 and 2008, SMEs in the EU turned out to be the most important European Economy job engine. With 9.4 million jobs created between 2002 and 2008 SMEs outperformed large firms. This is in sharp contrast to an estimated loss of 3.25 million jobs in the SME sector over 2009 and 2010 further to the annual SME report. For each EU Member State and 10 more countries, selected key facts describing the national SME sector are provided, such as number of SMEs and employment creation. They also underline that Member States have undertaken many relevant policy actions, but much more needs to be done to ensure that the guidelines set by the Small Business Act (SBA) are fully implemented.

The annual growth rate of the outstanding amount of debt securities issued by euro area residents decreased from 6.0% in March 2010 to 5.7% in April. For the outstanding amount of quoted shares issued by euro area residents, the annual growth rate was 2.7% in April 2010, compared with 2.8% in March.

OECD composite leading indicators (CLIs) for April 2010 point to a slowing pace of expansion in most OECD countries. The CLI for the OECD area increased by 0.4 point in April 2010, slightly lower than the 0.5 point increase in March. April was the ninth consecutive month that the rate of increase has slowed.

The EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 23.4 billion euro in the first quarter of 2010, compared with a deficit of 50.6 bn in the first quarter of 2009 and a deficit of 9.2 bn in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan decreased 0.1 percent The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.2 percent in April.

Labor productivity - defined as output per hour - rose in 46 percent of the 138 detailed manufacturing, mining, and service-providing industries studied in 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. This was down from the 62 percent that recorded productivity increases the previous year. Unit labor costs, which reflect the total labor costs required to produce a unit of output, declined in 30 percent of the industries, compared to 20 percent in 2007.

Despite being bombarded daily by news about European sovereign debt issues, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. federal deficit, the vast majority of consumers say these and other crises have had little impact on their current spending habits, according to the monthly RBC Consumer Outlook. More than three-in-four Americans (80 percent) say that the European debt crisis has had no effect on their spending habits, and 72 percent say that the Gulf oil spill will result in no change. Other concerns, such as the federal budget deficit, stock market volatility and continued high unemployment, also have had little impact.

Job growth will occur more quickly outside of the U.S. and Europe, according to the latest NYSE Euronext Annual CEO Report. The study finds that chief executives in the U.S. and Europe do not expect a full jobs recovery until 2014 or later, while their counterparts elsewhere expect a full jobs recovery by the end of 2012. Additionally, small business is viewed as a primary source of employment gains while opinions vary on the impact of governments on new job creation.

Industry partnerships, concerned law enforcement officers and resilient retailers have done their part in making a small dent in the growing problem of organized retail crime, but new research shows there’s still a lot of work to be done. According to NRF’s sixth annual ORC survey, 89.5 percent of retailers surveyed say their company has been a victim of ORC within the past 12 months, a slight decrease from last year’s 92.2 percent.