Menu

Despite the economic downturn, the global broadband market remained healthy in 2009. Since more people are buying laptops, notebooks and PCs, home networking is becoming essential. At the same time, the demand for high speed broadband is increasing with the popularity of services such as IPTV and online gaming. New market data from ABI Research shows that global broadband service revenue has continued increasing over the past few years regardless of the recessionary pressures.

Very small companies could be exempted from having to draw up annual accounts, after MEPs approved changes to EU accounting rules in Strasbourg on Wednesday. It would be up to each Member State to grant such exemptions, depending on the impact the directive would have in that country. Companies would in any case still have to keep records of their business transactions and financial situation.

The European Commission welcomes the adoption at the United Nations in Geneva of the first international regulation on safety of both fully electric and hybrid cars. This landmark decision will facilitate the early introduction of safe and clean electric cars onto our roads. The technical regulation adopted at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) ensures that cars with a high voltage electric power train, such as hybrid and fully electric vehicles, are as safe as conventional cars. Hybrid and electric cars are increasingly available on the market and are very promising in terms of making road transport clean and energy-efficient.

Slow job creation continues to drag on the economy, according to the Consumer Reports Index for March. This month's findings show that, although the tide of job losses has been stemmed, the level of job creation needed to fuel a consumer recovery has not developed.

Americans' confidence in their ability to retire appears to be stabilizing, now that the economic volatility of the recession has abated, but their self-described preparations for retirement continue to erode, according to the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald and Associates, a market research firm.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 4.76 percent, down four basis points from 4.80 percent compared to this same time last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fluctuated between 4.76 and 4.82 during the past week.

As a result of the economic downturn, university students rate job security at a potential employer ahead of pay and benefits, according to a survey conducted by KPMG, a global network of firms providing audit, tax and advisory services.

U.S.-based companies led the world in completing merger-and-acquisition (M&A) deals with emerging or high-growth market companies in the second half of 2009, nearly tripling the number of acquisitions made by the second-ranked country, according to KPMG International's latest Emerging Markets International Acquisition Tracker (EMIAT) study.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) rose in February for the sixth consecutive month. The index now stands at 93.5, up from January's 93.2. During the past six months, the index increased by 13.4 percent (annual rate), the highest six-month growth rate since 1994.

The unemployment rate for the OECD area fell slightly to 8.7% in January 2010, reflecting drops of 0.3 percentage point in the United States and Japan. However, the latest figures for the United States show that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7% in February. Rates in the Euro area stabilized in January at 9.9% and in many countries, notably France and Italy, rates continued their recent upward trend.