Business confidence weak, survey shows

28/04/2009

Almost six in ten UK firms are planning to impose wage freezes on staff this year, it has been revealed.

A poll of employers from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also showed that half were planning to make redundancies over the next six months.

The survey comes as the UK suffers what looks likely to be its worst recession in decades due to the credit crunch.

Latest official figures show that the economy shrank by 1.9 per cent in January-March, the sharpest downturn since 1979.

News of the BCC survey comes as stock markets around the world have fallen on news of the deadly swine flu outbreak in Mexico.

With milder cases confirmed in countries including the US and Britain, the World Health Organisation has warned that the possibility remains of a worldwide outbreak - or pandemic - of the new type of flu.

There also remains a smaller possibility that this could lead to drastic action being taken by governments - including closing borders - which would make the recession much more severe and increase the personal finance woes of millions.

Tags; Job loss, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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