The economy

Everyone hopes to maintain the same standard of living in retirement as they presently enjoy while working, but to achieve this requires considerable forward planning.

The UK is entering the early stages of its recovery from recession but still faces many challenges, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England has said.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, will deliver his pre-Budget Report for 2009 on Wednesday 9 December.

Employers look set to shed more jobs in the final quarter of the year, suggesting that the UK labour market will remain under pressure even as the economy emerges from the downturn.

Both permanent and temporary job vacancies showed a rise last month.

The UK’s services industry has posted its best growth figures since the end of the summer of 2007, a new survey has claimed.

Confidence among UK consumers, although still fragile, is at its highest for some 18 months.

The government has been urged not to impose additional taxes on smaller businesses.

To tackle the UK’s massive public debt, the basic rate of income tax should be raised by 7p in the pound, a leading think tank has said.

The UK economy is on the verge of coming out of recession, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said.