Manufacturers and consultancy firms are the most likely to uproot jobs abroad, with India and Eastern Europe being the most popular destinations, the survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found.

The number of employers intending to offshore UK jobs to other parts of the world in the year to March 2013 has grown to 8pc, up from 6pc last year, the CIPD said.

In a further blow to the beleaguered British jobs market, 41pc of employers planning to offshore roles said they would shift IT support roles, and 29pc operations roles.

UK Jobs

Finance, call-centre and HR roles were also popular jobs to be moved overseas, the survey showed.

However, the CIPD survey showed some employers offshoring jobs might live to regret it, with more than a quarter of companies that have shifted jobs overseas now looking to relocated operations back to the UK.

Gerwyn Davies, policy adviser at the CIPD, said: “The continuing pressure on employers to cut costs is highlighted by the increase in employer intentions to offshore UK jobs to other parts of the world.

“Employers need to weigh up the wider impacts when considering offshoring decisions, such as the potential adverse impact on customer service or employer brand.”

Elsewhere, the report showed the outlook on jobs has turned positive for the first time in more than a year, with the 1,000 employers surveyed saying they would hire more staff in the first quarter of 2012 and fewer companies forecasting redundancies.

Almost two-thirds of employers plan to hire employees in the second quarter of 2012, with hiring intentions strongest in finance, insurance and property, the report showed.

But the optimism could be short-lived with employers’ concerns over the eurozone and news of the UK’s double-dip recession, the CIPD warned.

Separately, a survey from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) showed the number of vacancies for temporary workers had held firm as the ongoing economic uncertainty put companies off from hiring permanent workers.

Temp jobs for financial services and engineering workers rose in March compared to the previous month, although levels are still down year-on-year, Apsco said.

telegraph.co.uk

Mortgage Payment

Seven lenders including Halifax, the Co-operative Bank, Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks and RBS-Natwest are increasing their borrowing rates by up to 0.5 percentage points for existing customers, adding about £55 to a typical £200,000 mortgage.

The rate rises signal that lenders are breaking away from the era of record-low interest rates, despite the Bank of England maintaining the base rate at a historic 0.5pc low.

About 850,000 Halifax customers could find themselves paying almost £200 extra a year under the changes.

Borrowers who have not managed to pay off much of their loan or are in negative equity could find themselves stuck with their existing lender and unable to switch to another provider.

Greater restrictions are set to be placed on mortgage loans due to a clampdown by the finance watchdog on irresponsible lending, to make sure borrowers can only take out deals they can afford.

The Financial Services Authority proposals will introduce new rules around mortgage advice and income will have to be verified in every application, with banks placing greater emphasis on other regular outgoings.

telegraph.co.uk

UK Energy Firms

Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the gap between the ‘true cost’ of energy and what all UK consumers pay could amount to as much as £1.9bn by 2020.

They blamed the disparity on lack of competition in the UK market, which is ruled by the “big six” energy firms, and called on the energy watchdog Ofgem to ensure pricing is more fair.

Currently, this means that some UK families are paying as much as £330 more than their neighbours to use the same amount of energy from the same company.

The think-tank said that over five million people could be being overcharged because tariffs are not cost reflective as required by Ofgem, and so-called loss-leading tariffs from the ‘Big Six’ also prevent competition as smaller suppliers cannot compete.

With annual efficiency savings of 2.5% and profit margins at 4%, it estimates that energy suppliers could drop £70 from the average household annual bill.

The think-tank also found that costs to suppliers of delivering environmental and social obligations may be £9 per customer per year less than estimated by the regulator.

Will Straw, associate director at IPPR, said: “We are calling on the Big Six and Ofgem to demonstrate whether efficiency savings are being achieved in the energy market and whether consumers are benefiting from lower bills as a result, as we would expect if competition was working.

“We need more competition among energy companies so that households get a fairer price for their energy but Ofgem’s previous attempts to reform the market have not delivered the changes needed.”

The IPPR investigated the costs to energy companies of supplying electricity and gas for the financial year 2011/12, and modeled a number of scenarios to see how different levels of competition in the supply market could affect energy bills in 2020.

Meanwhile, campaigners have warned that parts of Britain are in danger of being overrun by wind farms because of the huge increase in the number under construction.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said the number of turbines over 30 metres high either already built, in construction or awaiting approval has soared to more 4,100 from just 685 in 2008.

sky.com

The Markit Household Finance Index dipped for the second month running in April.

UK household finances

The index fell to 37.0, down from 37.8 in March, indicating a faster deterioration in UK household finances.

Anything under 50 denotes money is getting tighter.

Almost five times as many households reported worsening household finances (33%) as those that saw an improvement (7%).

Scotland and the South East saw the least marked falls, while the sharpest deterioration in finances was reported across the South West and Wales.

April’s survey data suggested that lower earnings, higher household debt and elevated inflation expectations had all exerted greater pressure on current finances, Markit said.

The outlook for the year ahead was not rosy either.

Almost twice as many households expect a deterioration in their finances (47%) as those that anticipate an improvement (25%) in the next year.

However, households were the least concerned about job security for just over two years, helped by improvements in both the manufacturing and IT & Telecoms sectors.

This reflects better official employment figures in February, with statistics last week showing unemployment fell for the first time in almost a year.

The jobless total fell by 35,000 in the quarter to February, to 2.65m, a rate of 8.3%, the Office for National Statistics said.

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at Markit, said an increased sense of job security had failed to translate into either improved spending patterns or better household confidence.

“Instead, households reported falling incomes and sharply increased living costs, which in turn caused a substantial drop in their appetite for major purchases,” he said.

“Worsening household finances during April are especially disappointing as it follows some signs that the consumer gloom had started to lift in the first quarter of the year,” he added.

“This makes the first quarter GDP number, released this Wednesday, even more important for consumer confidence.”

sharecast.com

With a rise of 0.5%, the national average asking price is now £243,737 – compared with the last peak in May 2008 at the start of the recession – according to the Rightmove House Price Index.

House Prices In The UK Hits All-Time High

The number of properties for sale increased by 8.1% outside of London but overall supply is still down 30% compared with April 2007.

This, and the more active spring market, are buoying up seller confidence, Rightmove said.

The South West, where supply is down 5.5% on last year, is seeing a record-breaking average asking price of £270,735, while the South East and East Anglia are just £810 and £2,489 off their previous peaks.

In London, the average asking price, at nearly £500,000, is at a historic high, as sellers in the capital drag their heels in bringing fresh property to the market.

Director of Rightmove Miles Shipside said: “Asking price records are being set in the fresh-stock-starved London and South West regions, and agents report this is also the case in markets in other regions.

“Doing research in your area is essential to gauge what type of property is in demand, how quickly it is selling and how close to the asking price is being achieved.”

The results conceal the drop in asking prices in the ailing regions of Wales, the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside over the last year, with falls of 1.5%, 1.2% and 0.2% respectively.

Mr Shipside said: “If only taken at face value, national averages can mask varying degrees of volatility at a regional level.

“The richest seams of housing market activity are concentrated around those with access to cash and finance, with a strong bias to the South and London in particular.”

The survey warns that the counter-effect of inflation has eroded real term values.

It said: “If prices had kept pace with inflation (as measured by the retail prices index) since May 2008 then they would now stand at £270,459, so they have fallen by 9.9% in real terms.

sky.com

Accountancy firm Deloitte said a total of 69 retailers collapsed, up from 60 in the same period the previous year, as the squeeze on consumer spending and the growing popularity of online retailers took their toll.

Fashion chain Peacocks, video games retailer Game Group, outdoor specialist Blacks Leisure, gift seller Past Times and lingerie firm La Senza all threw in the towel in the period, between them accounting for nearly 10,000 job losses.

Retail Administrations Rise To 15% In First Quarter Of 2012

The collapse of such big names meant the number of redundancies was likely to have been far higher than a year ago, the report added.

Lee Manning, a restructuring services partner at Deloitte, said: “The first quarter of 2012 is particularly significant given the high-profile nature of the companies we have seen enter administration.”

The number of administrations was 64% higher than in the final quarter of 2011, but there is normally a rise in the first three months of the year when trading slows down after the Christmas peak and retailers struggle to pay their quarterly rent bill.

Retailers such as Game and Peacocks were bought out of administration but have seen large chunks of their store estate closed.

But Deloitte said many retailers across the UK still have too many stores as shoppers increasingly look for cheaper deals online.

It has suggested in a recent report that chains may need to reduce store numbers by 40%, which is likely to cause further pain for the UK’s beleaguered high streets.

Mr Manning added: “Whilst the quarterly rent day often sets the timing for the insolvency, a significant trigger in a number of recent administrations is that many retailers have too many marginal stores.”

The Press Association

Visa

Global Payments CEO Paul Garcia noted that the company continues to process Visa transactions, but that being dropped from the registry “could give our partners some pause that they’re doing business with someone who experienced a breach.”

Garcia said he expects to Global Payments to be reinstated once it has been issued a new report of compliance. But he declined to specify when that might be. He said the situation is “absolutely contained” but that the investigation is continuing and that parts of it still need to be resolved.

Global Payments says the data breach may affect less than 1.5 million credit cards from various issuers in North America. The company said that credit card data may have been stolen, but that cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not obtained.

The company said it will set up a website later Monday to help consumers who might be affected by the breach.

Both Visa and MasterCard say their own systems weren’t compromised.

Visa and MasterCard had said Friday that they notified their card holders of the potential for identity theft and illicit charges because of the breach.

Aside from the U.S., Global Payments provides its services to government agencies, businesses and others in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said it continues to work with regulators, industry third parties and law enforcement to help in the effort to minimize the potential impact on credit cardholders.

Last June, hackers stole information for 360,000 credit card accounts at Citigroup. In the past year, there have been high-profile data attacks against the International Monetary Fund, National Public Radio, Google and Sony’s PlayStation Network.

For the three months ended Feb. 29, the company reported net income of $57.9 million, or 73 cents per share. That’s compared with $48.2 million, or 59 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company has not yet identified the size of the charge it will take as a result of the breach.

The Associated Press

The survey, carried out on behalf of Citi, showed inflation expectations eased to 2.7 percent this month from 2.8 percent in February, still above the January’s 2.6 percent but well below the mid-2011 peak of 3.9 percent.

Expectations for annual inflation over the next five to 10 years were stable at 3.4 percent, matching the long-run average since the survey began in late 2005.

Inflation Expectations

The Bank of England forecasts that inflation will fall below its 2 percent target by the end of this year, though a recent rise in oil and petrol prices has stoked fears that inflation may prove stickier.

Citi economist Michael Saunders said the results should reassure policymakers that the recent prolonged inflation overshoot, renewed expansion of quantitative easing and recent increase in petrol prices have not destabilised inflation expectations.

reuters.com

Internet Economy

The “internet economy” was worth £121bn in 2010, more than £2,000 per person, researchers at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said.

That made it bigger than the healthcare, construction or education sectors.

The UK also carries out far more retail online than any other major economy.

Some 13.5% of all purchases were done over the internet in 2010, according to BCG, and this is projected to rise to 23% by 2016.

Chocolate v sex

The researchers said that the overall UK web economy is particularly fast-growing.

They predict it will continue to expand at a rate of 11% per year for the next four years, reaching a total value of £221bn by 2016.

That compares with projected growth rates of 5.4% in the US and 6.9% in China.

This may be particularly good news for small and medium-sized businesses that focus on the sector.

The research suggested that their revenues have grown by 12.5% each year in the last three years.

The study also provided an indication of the UK public’s growing love affair with the web.

While only a quarter of those surveyed said they would consider giving up sex for a year in order to maintain their broadband connection, the figures for other indulgences were much higher.

Some 65% would give up alcohol, 76% chocolate and 78% coffee.

bbc.co.uk

The Centre for Economics and Business Research warned on Monday that family incomes face a further squeeze, with the better-off facing the biggest drop in income, in percentage terms.

UK Pounds

With inflation fuelled by rising oil and commodity prices, the thinktank’s previous forecast of inflation falling to 1.8% by the final quarter of 2012 looks optimistic. If oil and commodity prices stay high – fuelled by political uncertainty in the Middle East and the effects of quantitative easing across the globe – inflation could reach 2.5% in the final three months of this year.

This means that real household disposable income – adjusted for inflation – is likely to dip by 0.1% this year, the third year of falling real incomes. Without the effect of higher energy and commodity prices, incomes could have risen this year, CEBR said.

“The price of oil is currently $35 a barrel higher than when we made our last macro forecasts,” said Shehan Mohamed, CEBR economist and author of the report. “If it remains here it will add nearly 0.4% to consumer prices directly and possibly double that if indirect effects are taken into account and would mean that our previous forecast that inflation will fall below the [Bank of England's] 2% target by [the end of] 2012 is most unlikely to happen.”

Real disposable income per household is forecast to fall by 1.1% in 2012 and 1% in 2013 because of rising numbers of households. By 2013, real disposable income per household is forecast to be 5.7% lower than in 2007. Contrary to popular belief, CEBR reported, wealthier people have faced the biggest income squeeze.

Real disposable incomes for socio-economic groups A and B are 9.9% lower in 2012 than in 2008, while those for socio-economic groups D and E are down only 5.5%. Rising taxes and falling incentive-based pay are the main reasons for the greater squeeze for the better-off. This is set to continue.

Douglas McWilliams, the CEBR’s chief executive, added: “It looks like quantitative easing is starting to affect GDP growth around the world and the international economy looks to be temporarily in much better shape than it appeared to be at the turn of the year. But every silver lining has a cloud – in this case the higher energy and commodity prices which are resulting from the combination of uncertainties in the Middle East and QE in Europe and the US, which mean both higher inflation and squeezed real disposable incomes. So although economies are stronger in early 2012 than we had forecast, the benefits of this will likely be eroded over the next 18 months by tighter policy and depressed incomes.”

guardian.co.uk