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The annual rate of growth of M3 decreased to 0.3% in October 2009, from 1.8% in September 2009. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period August 2009 - October 2009 decreased to 1.6%, from 2.5% in the period July 2009 - September 2009.

In the run up to the festive season, shoppers wanting to avoid spending heavily at Christmas are using the shopping habits they have learnt from the recession, for example, turning to voucher codes sites such as VoucherSeeker in order to save money.

Consumers plan to spend more during the holidays this year than during the depths of the recession a year ago, but their spending is still expected to be more restrained than in prior years, according to the tenth annual holiday spending survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).

Cyber Monday, a term coined by the National Retail Federation for the first Monday after Thanksgiving, is likely to be a busy day for Internet use in the office. Thirty-two percent of workers plan to holiday shop online this season, up from 29 percent last year, according to CareerBuilder's annual survey. While employers tend to be more lenient around the holidays, experts caution workers to be aware of their company's electronic communications policies as employers have reported monitoring Internet and email use and instituting stricter policies in regard to social media. The survey included more than 3,100 employers and 4,700 workers nationwide.

A new exclusive survey from Sunbelt Software, a leading provider of Windows security software, reveals that more than half (56 percent) of consumers have security concerns about using credit cards online, but more than 90 percent of the 650+ respondents will still do so this holiday season. In fact, despite security concerns, more than 60 percent of all respondents will be doing more - not less - online shopping this holiday season.

comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 22 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season, as well as its official spending forecast for the season. For the holiday season-to-date, $8.21 billion has been spent online, marking a 2-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.00 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.44 discount and origination points.

The recession is taking its toll on tax receipts across the OECD. Aggregate tax burdens in OECD economies, calculated as the ratio of tax revenues to gross domestic product, or GDP, were unchanged between 2006 and 2007, and then fell in 2008. The reduction in the tax burden in 2008 is estimated to have been some ½ percent of GDP, from 35.8% to an estimated 35.2%.

Unsafe road traffic conditions in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA)have tremendous adverse implications for their economic and social well-being, says a World Bank report. Treating road safety victims is imposing an increasingly unbearable burden on these countries’ health and social services. Road traffic injuries are a major cause of death and disability, affecting young and working-age groups of society in particular, and ECA countries need to act now to prevent injuries and save lives, suggest World Bank experts.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined in October, increased slightly in November. The Index now stands at 49.5 (1985=100), up from 48.7 in October. The Present Situation Index was virtually unchanged at 21.0 versus 21.1 last month. The Expectations Index increased to 68.5 from 67.0 in October.