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A new US survey, commissioned by LinkShare, a leading pay-per-action marketing network, reveals consumers expect their overall spending to decrease in 2008, but more so offline than online. The study also finds that four out of five consumers surveyed believe the US is mired in an economic recession, but the Internet may offer relief to some shoppers.

In reaction to the credit crisis and recent market turmoil, companies have become increasingly conservative with cash holdings and short-term investments, according to the newly released 2008 AFP Liquidity Survey. Further, with the collapse of the auction rate securities market, organizations appear to be less focused on securing higher rates of return on short-term investments and more concerned with preserving principal and ensuring access to their cash.

Use of mobile data services within individual Member States is growing much faster than cross border data roaming services, says a Connect2Roam study carried out for the European Commission. This is because mobile operators are introducing aggressive retail rates to compete with existing broadband offers.

As of today, aviation relations between the European Community and the United States will be further strengthened through an agreement on aviation safety. Thanks to the mutual recognition of aviation safety certificates, the agreement will result in better harmonised safety systems on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as less cumbersome technical and administrative procedures for the recognition of certificates. It is expected that this will entail further improvement in safety levels and reduce costs by several millions of euros every year for European and US manufacturers alike. These savings should in turn be reflected in fares for passengers.

An EU-wide survey of 27,000 households has revealed the emergence of new consumption patterns in telecoms services in Europe. Technological progress and competition have brought more choice to European consumers; 24% of households have given up their fixed telephone in favour of mobile phones while 22% of them are using their computer from home to make phone calls over the Internet.

The average person born in the later years of the baby boom held 10.8 jobs from age 18 to age 42, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nearly two - thirds of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27.

A full 9.2 million US mobile subscribers have purchased goods or services using their handset, and one-half of all mobile data users expect to do so in the future, according to Nielsen Mobile.

Market researchers at Tootoo.com recently attended the 2008 Canton Fair in China where lots of well-known electronics enterprises displayed their newly-developed high-end electronics products such as frequency-conversion air conditioners and versatile lightwave microwave ovens. In addition, the electronics editors at Tootoo.com reported that a good number of Chinese electronic producers have enhanced their products to expand into a promising new market so as to increase their gross profits.

Gas prices will soon hit $7 per gallon and that will make driving a car too expensive for millions of Americans, taking an unprecedented 10 million vehicles off U.S. roads over the next four years and dealing another body blow to the reeling auto sector, finds a new energy report from CIBC World Markets.

The latest Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index ("PMI(R)"), based on a mid-month survey of economic conditions in the euro area retail sector, fell from 53.1 in May to 44.0 in June. The PMI provides data one month ahead of government issued figures and the steep drop to well below the 50.0 no-change level indicated that European retail sales fell sharply at the end of Q2, posting the second-fastest rate of decline in the survey's four-and-a-half year history and exceeded by April's record fall.