Unemployment levels should go down as the recession draws to a close

The Institute of Chartered Accountants’ index of business confidence rose to 4.8 at the end of June, up from -28.2 in March, the biggest rise for two years. The institute has predicted the UK economy will grow by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2009.

Its forecast comes after the economy shrank by 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of the year. More than 1,000 chartered accountants were surveyed across England, Wales and Scotland.

Chief executive Michael Izza says, “This quarter’s Business Confidence Monitor suggests that the UK recession is at an end. While there is no doubt that the UK economy is on its way to recovery, we shouldn’t underestimate the challenge ahead for businesses”.

There are hopes the global recession is ending, as Japan, France and Germany have all recently emerged from recession in the second quarter between April and June, as have Asian economies like Thailand and Hong Kong.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has also said that the US is approaching economic recovery.

The confidence survey said that 41 per cent of senior professionals were more confident about their business prospects in the next year, but only 6 per cent said they were much more confident, showing that many are still cautious.  IT was the most optimistic sector followed by banking, finance and insurance.