Economics

US jobs data provided some much needed respite for investors on Friday, after the latest figures beat estimates.

US markets have reversed earlier gains after manufacturing data raised further doubts about the strength of the economic recovery.

The FTSE has opened in negative territory after a gloomy assessment of the US economy pushed European shares lower.

The US economy grew at a worse than expected 1.8% in the first quarter, unchanged from April's first reading, the US Commerce Department has confirmed.

Global markets have marginally recovered after yesterday's surprise Standard & Poor's downgrade of the outlook for US debt caused widespread falls.

Adam Posen, the Bank of England policymaker, has predicted inflaton will fall to 1.5% by mid-2012 as the government's austerity drive and a weak economy will curb consumer spending.

Egypt could see the state of its economy further discredited if the government does not support the market, says Pictet's Oliver Bell.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said today the UK's economic recovery will lag previous recoveries in the 1980s and 1990s.

The UK could be entering a "profoundly different" era of slow growth and high debt reminiscent of the economic ills engulfing Japan, says the BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders.

The chances of Britain dropping back into recession this year have doubled to one-in-five, a leading economic forecaster has warned, amid mounting fears the recovery is slowing.