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"Looking ahead to 2008, recruitment trends are expected to continue," said Tony Roy, Managing Director of CareerBuilder.co.uk. "While analysts point to lower job creation in the New Year, employers are proceeding with caution, anticipating a slower, but still steady hiring environment. Thirty-seven per cent of employers said they plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2008, down from 45 per cent at the same time last year."

The annual rate of growth of M3 stood at 12.3% in November 2007, unchanged from the previous month. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period September 2007 - November 2007 rose to 11.9%, from 11.7% in the period August 2007 - October 2007.

The euro has been introduced in Cyprus and Malta. The number of EU Member States that use the single European currency has now increased to 15. The European Central Bank (ECB) welcomes this further enlargement of the euro area.

The tariffs of natural gas for public distribution will increase by an average of 0.173 euro cent/kWh on January 1st, 2008. This is the first change in rates since May 2006, whereas the price of oil has risen by 33% since that date, reaching 93 $/b in November 2007.

The Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index was little-changed in December from the previous month's 45.9, at 46.0. That was the third-lowest figure in the survey's four-year history and signaled a decline in euro area retail sales for the third successive month (after accounting for the strong seasonal effects of the festive trading period).

Such is the statement made by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (EMAC) of the European Banking Federation (EBF), which published its end of year economic outlook.

A mere 2 weeks before the launch of SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area, the European Banking Federation (EBF) regrets the European Commission’ s ruling against the interchange fees on cross-border transactions applied by an international credit and debit card system in the SEPA area.

Nearly 50 million Western European households will take up broadband by 2013, growing broadband penetration to 71% from 44% in 2007, according to Forrester Research's "Western European Residential Broadband Forecast: 2008-2013."

The euro area (EA13) industrial new orders index grew by 2.5% in October 2007 compared with September 2007. The index fell by 1.0% in September. EU27 new orders increased by 5.4% in October 2007 after a decrease of 1.7% in September. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment4 industrial new orders gained 1.9% in the euro area and 0.8% in the EU27 in October 2007. In October 2007 compared with October 2006, industrial new orders increased by 10.9% in the euro area and by 16.6% in the EU27. Total industry excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment grew by 9.0% in the euro area and by 11.1% in the EU27.

The European Commission adopted new legislation on industrial emissions to strengthen the provisions already in force and reduce industrial emissions throughout the European Union. The proposal will bring significant health and environmental benefits and will create a better level playing field across the EU, reducing competition distortions between companies. It will also simplify current legislation by merging seven directives into one, significantly cutting the administrative burden for industry and public authorities.