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EU27 real agricultural income per worker has decreased by 12.2% in 2009, following a decrease by 2.5% in 2008, according to first estimates issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This decline results from a reduction in real agricultural income (-14.2%), together with a fall in agricultural labour input (-2.2%). These estimates for the EU27 are based on data supplied by the national authorities in the Member States.

The first estimate for the euro area (EA16) trade balance with the rest of the world in October 2009 gave a 8.8 bn euro surplus, compared with -1.2 bn in October 2008. The September 20092 balance was +0.9 bn, compared with -6.0 bn in September 2008. In October 2009 compared with September 2009, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.2% and imports by 2.2%.

In 2008, China’s total expenditures on science and technology (S&T) continued to maintain a rapid growth. The expenditures of research and development (R&D) funds have increased steadily, the input intensity reached the highest level in the history.

Amid recent reports of high unemployment, Americans are increasingly concerned that economic conditions will continue to deteriorate and they are aiming to modify their financial habits accordingly.

New EU telecoms rules composed of the Better Regulation Directive and the Citizens’ Rights Directive will need to be transposed into national laws of the 27 EU Member States by June 2011. The new Regulation establishing the new European Telecoms Authority called "Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)" is directly applicable and will enter into force in 20 days. BEREC will provide a force for consistent regulation across Europe strengthening the single telecoms market.

The 2010 EU budget will see jobs and the economy top spending. Over €64bn (or 45%) of the €141bn of EU funds will go on measures linked to research, education and innovation. Research funding will grow by nearly 12% (€7.5bn) and energy and transport by more than 10% (€2bn). Financing for strategic energy projects, broadband in rural areas and cash to help rural communities cope with new challenges in agriculture will also provide a welcome boost to Europe's economy with the final €2.4bn of the €5bn European economic recovery plan being secured for 2010. Agricultural spending will continue to be stable next year at nearly €44bn with over €14bn (+2.6%) to promote rural development and additional emergency aid of €300m to help milk producers. The biggest increase in EU spending in 2010 will be for projects to fight crime, terrorism and manage migration flows, with this area growing by 16.2% on 2009 to almost €1bn.

The growing diversity of alternative payment methods suggests the stakeholders are scrambling to establish a lead in preferred payment form.

In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production decreased by 0.6% in the euro area (EA16) and by 0.4% in the EU27 in October 2009, compared with the previous month. In September, production fell by 0.8% and 0.5% respectively.

Parliament on Thursday adopted the final EU budget for 2010, which will be €141.4 billion in commitments and €122.9 billion in payments. The main challenge for this year's budget was to find the funding for the already agreed but not yet financed economic recovery plan, which will cost the EU €2.4 billion next year.

New IBM research reveals that despite the recent volatility in the financial markets, investors are more likely to cut holiday spending than investment contributions. At the same time, research from the IBM Institute for Business Value indicates that a majority of investors believe that a "trust gap" exists between banks and their customers, and that this is a major factor in decisions by banks to invest in analytics and other solutions to provide greater insight into client needs.