News that affects your wallet
‘Painful contraction’ for jobs market
UK businesses are putting the breaks on their employment operations amidst the Eurozone crisis, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed.
This is the institute’s key finding from its autumn Labour Market Outlook report – a survey of more than 1,000 employers.
The main cause of this appears to be the current economic uncertainty across Europe.
‘Many firms appear to be locked in “wait and see” mode, with some companies scaling back on all employment decisions,’ said Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD.
This is contrary to reports from recruitment website Monster that online job opportunities increased by 3% from September 2010 to the same month of this year.
Inflation falls to 5%
The rate of Consumer Price Index inflation fell to 5% last month from 5.2% in September.
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According to the Office for National Statistics, this fall was due, in large, to the price war between a number of the nation’s supermarket giants.
Despite this decrease, the rate is considerably higher than the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
‘The current high level of inflation reflects the increase in the standard rate of VAT earlier this year and previous steep increases in import and energy prices,’ a letter from Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King to Chancellor George Osborne reads.
Tax records to go online?
Every taxpayer in the country could be given access to their tax records via the internet, if new government proposals are given the go-ahead.
The government hopes to make the personal tax system more transparent and easier to understand.
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Exchequer Secretary David Gauke said: ‘At the moment, for a lot of people, the tax line on their pay slip is the only time they see just how much they’re paying in tax, but the government doesn’t think that’s good enough.’
‘We want to make tax more transparent and we want people to be more engaged with their own tax affairs,’ he added.
The government is asking taxpayers, representative bodies and tax professionals to take part in a consultation relating to the current tax system.
**This material is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. We strongly encourage our readers not to rely solely on this content, but to seek independent advice when making financial decisions.**
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