GROWTH IN JOBS AND SERVICES SECTOR REPORTED

Signs of a recovery in the jobs market have emerged with recruiters reporting that permanent hiring activity reached a six-year high in March (Financial Times, £). The latest labour survey by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation recorded that month-on-month growth in permanent placements was the highest since April 2015. Demand for temporary staff rose at the fastest rate since November 2017 (Daily Telegraph). 

Meanwhile IHS Markit's monthly purchasing managers? index found the services sector returned to growth in March, the first positive recording since October last year (The Times; £). Separate analysis from Springboard indicated there was ?pent up demand? from consumers for bricks-and-mortar shops, with the firm predicting a 48 per cent increase in sales after the next stage of lockdown easing on 12 April (BBC News). Data from Barclaycard showed that spending on leisure and entertainment increased by 136 per cent last week (The Times, £).

US PROPOSE NEW GLOBAL TAX MODEL

A new global model for taxing multinational companies in which firms would pay levies according their sales in each country is being proposed by the US according to the Financial Times (£). Under the proposals the world's largest businesses would pay taxes to national governments whether or not they had a physical presence in the country. Finance ministers from the G20 are exploring the idea of introducing a global minimum tax on corporate profits (The Guardian). In an interview with the BBC the head of the World Bank, David Malpass, has warned against setting any minimum tax level too high, suggesting that such a move could prevent poorer countries from being able to attract new investments. 

Separately the International Monetary Fund has suggested that advanced countries should consider temporary tax increases in order to provide targeted support for those most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic (The Times). 

NEWS IN BRIEF

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman has said that ?pension scams are a significant problem?, particularly impacting 'those pensioners who are making investments into cloned investment sites that are really being targeted by callous crooks who are taking their money? (The Times, £). 

The extension of the stamp duty holiday in the Budget led to a increase in housing market activity in March, according to the latest figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Reuters).

Covid-19 infection rates fell 60 per cent between February and March and are now at the level seen last September, the latest REACT survey has found (Sky News). 

Rail firms are planning to run 18,000 services a day next week, up from 1,000 in February, as they prepare for the next stage of the lifting of lockdown restrictions (City AM).

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