Economics / Markets

Unemployment has risen to 2.62 million people over the past quarter according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures released today.

A Federal Reserve official has called for more "monetary accommodation" to tackle surging unemployment and the country's creaking mortgage market.

The euro weakened this morning as the cost of insuring French bonds climbed to a record, Spanish yields rose and european equities retreated for a second day.

3pm update: European markets have bounced back from earlier falls following the release of positive economic data from the US.

The Prime Minister David Cameron said the eurozone debt crisis presents an opportunity to reform the European Union and for powers to "ebb back" from Brussels to Westminster.

The Bank of England has been forced to cut growth forecasts for the UK to 1% amid fears of a double-dip recession brought on by the eurozone crisis.

European markets rallied late on Friday as Italy approved new austerity measures, a move which is set to precede the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) was last night at the centre of a storm after it accidentally downgraded France's AAA rating.

Business leaders will today make a fresh plea to George Osborne to scrap the 50p rate of income tax and increase personal allowances to protect the British economy from the worst of the eurozone crisis.

The Bank of England (BoE) has kept interest rates at the historic low of 0.5% for the 33rd straight month, and held fire on additional quantitative easing measures after pumping an extra £75bn into the facility last month.