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Mortgage rates hit another record low this week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 4.88 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.5 discount and origination points.

Small businesses (SBs, or firms with less than 100 employees) in the US are increasingly relying on online channels to purchase computing hardware and packaged software solutions. This is a far cry from the days when retail stores and channel partners were the only relevant channels that catered to SBs. Channel partners and retailers still have the highest share of SB spending on basic computing products (such as PCs, printers, peripherals, etc); these channels, however, are slowly losing share to direct market resellers (DMRS) as well as online vendor direct.

A survey released by Invest Barbados showed that the majority of people in Canada, the US and the UK believe that investments in low tax jurisdictions (international financial centres) are good for business, but bad for their local economies. The survey revealed broad misconceptions among major G20 nations about the beneficial role of international financial centres in the global economy.

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $29.71 per hour worked in March 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Wages and salaries averaged $20.67 per hour worked and accounted for 69.6 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.04 and accounted for the remaining 30.4 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $27.73 per hour worked in March 2010. Total employer compensation costs for State and local government workers averaged $39.81 per hour worked in March 2010.

Careful phasing-out of fossil fuel subsidies can be a low-cost way to meet part of the targets announced following the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen. According to new OECD analysis based on data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), ending fossil fuel subsidies could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 10% from the levels they would otherwise reach in 2050 under business as usual.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 4.58 percent, down nine basis points from 4.67 percent at this same time last week. This is the lowest rate recorded since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched in April 2008.

Beyond.com, Inc., the world’s largest network of niche career communities, reported that entry-level jobs increased by 80 percent in Q1 2010, providing hope that the job outlook is beginning to brighten for recent graduates seeking entry-level employment. In addition to experiencing year over year growth, entry-level jobs in Q1 2010 were up an additional 19 percent from pre-recession job numbers in Q1 2008.

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released by Manpower Inc. employer optimism in the global labor market is gradually improving, with employers in 30 of 36 countries and territories indicating stronger hiring plans compared to 12 months ago and 23 reporting improved quarter-over-quarter hiring plans. Despite uncertainty in the European market, fewer employers are reporting negative forecasts for the quarter ahead. Meanwhile, employers in China and Taiwan indicate their most robust hiring plans since the Manpower survey began in these markets in 2005, and the forecast from U.S. employers is similar to three months ago but notably improved from last year at this time.

There were 3.1 million job openings on the last business day of April 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The job openings rate increased over the month to 2.3 percent. The hires rate (3.3 percent) and the separations rate (3.1 percent) were unchanged. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region.

Online recruitment activity continued to increase for a fourth consecutive month in May, as employers escalated their hiring activity in advance of the summer period.