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Recruiting new employees takes too long and is too costly according to a new survey conducted in February, covering more than 500 small and medium-sized businesses across the United Kingdom and representing all sectors. Over 80% of the companies that responded employ fewer than 100 staff and identified recruitment as a great challenge in managing their workforce.

According to a new survey of retail goods manufacturers and importers, consumer goods at retail are likely to rise by 10 – 15 percent later this spring and into the summer, particularly in the apparel and home furnishings segments.

CEOs across the globe cite business growth as the most critical challenge they face, according to the results of The Conference Board CEO Challenge 2011. In this year’s survey, over 700 CEOs, presidents and chairmen from across geographies and industries identified the most pressing issues they face in today’s business environment.

In February 2011 compared with January 2011, seasonally adjusted industrial production grew by 0.4% in the euro area (EA17) and by 0.2% in the EU27. In January production rose by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively.

The U.S. international trade deficit decreased to $45.8 billion in February 2011 from $47.0 billion in January (revised), according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department. Although exports fell slightly in February, imports fell even more, accounting for the decrease in the trade deficit.

Almost 40 percent of working Americans say they will never afford retirement, which, for the second year in a row, ranks as the nation's most important financial concern, according to a telephone survey conducted for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants by Harris Interactive.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Spain increased 0.1 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.1 percent in February.

Business Climate Survey results of NBS in whole country showed that the national business climate index (BCI) was 133.8 in the first quarter of 2011, fell 4.2 points over previous quarter.

The European Commission has presented its proposal to overhaul the outdated rules on the taxation of energy products in the European Union. The new rules aim to restructure the way energy products are taxed to remove current imbalances and take into account both their CO2 emissions and energy content. Existing energy taxes would be split into two components that, taken together, would determine the overall rate at which a product is taxed. The Commission wants to promote energy efficiency and consumption of more environmentally friendly products and to avoid distortions of competition in the Single Market. The proposal will help Member States to redesign their overall tax structures in a way that contributes to growth and employment by shifting taxation from labour to consumption. The revised Directive would enter into force as of 2013. Long transitional periods for the full alignment of taxation of the energy content, until 2023, will leave time for industry to adapt to the new taxation structure.

Executives and scientists from the Gallup and Healthways organisations presented findings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index® (WBI) which has collected information from approximately 3,000 adults in the United Kingdom over the past three months.