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Most employers expect their staff levels to remain the same as recruiting patterns hold steady and job losses trend downward, according to CareerBuilder and USA TODAY's Q3 2009 Job Forecast. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive(R) from May 22 through June 10, 2009 among more than 2,600 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

As of today, sending a text message from abroad in the EU costs a maximum €0.11, almost three times cheaper than the previous EU average of €0.28 (excl. VAT). To make a roamed call in another EU country must not cost more than €0.43 per minute, and no more than €0.19 to receive a call. From today, outgoing roaming calls will be charged by the second, after the first 30 seconds, rather than by the minute, and incoming calls will be charged by the second from the first second. Holidaymakers and business travellers can also surf the web, download movies or send photos with their mobile without fear of ‘bill shocks’ while roaming thanks to a wholesale cap of € 1 per megabyte (MB) downloaded. All these measures are expected to cut roaming charges for EU consumers by a further 60% and increase mobile phone use. The EU first acted on roaming in 2007 reducing the cost of voice roaming calls by 70%.

Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 0.1 % in the year to May 2009, compared with 0.6 % in the year to April, continuing the sharp fall in annual inflation since its peak of 4.9% in July 2008. Month-on-month, prices rose by 0.2% in May, unchanged from April 2009.

The Monster Employment Index slipped one point or one percent in June as online job opportunities fell modestly, largely in line with seasonal expectations. Year-over-year, the Index was down 28 percent, somewhat of an improvement from April and May’s annual pace of decline.

Unemployment rates were higher in May than a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Fifteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 21 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in May was 9.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 5.2 percent a year earlier. Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll employment were available, 295 areas recorded over-the-year declines in employment and 15 reported increases.

Data through April 2009, released by Standard & Poor's for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that, although still negative, the annual decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved.

The Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose for the fourth consecutive month to 31.8, an increase from 29 in May and up more than nine points from its all-time low of 22.2 in November of last year.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index™, which had improved considerably in May, retreated in June. The Index now stands at 49.3 (1985=100), down from 54.8 in May. The Present Situation Index decreased to 24.8 from 29.7. The Expectations Index declined to 65.5 from 71.5 in May.

Large and medium-size businesses are increasingly planning to invest in IT products and staff as confidence among IT decision makers begins returning to the corporate sector. However, earlier signs of IT investment among small businesses have slipped.

The European Commission adopted, after extensive consultation, a proposal for a Council Recommendation calling on all Member States to bring in laws to protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke by 2012. Tobacco remains the largest single cause of premature death and disease in the European Union. According to conservative estimates, 79,000 adults, including 19,000 non-smokers, died in the EU-25 in 2002 due to exposure to tobacco smoke at home (72,000) and in their workplace (7,300).