RETAIL SALE Britains retailers have enjoyed the best quarter of growth in a decade. Shoppers increased their spending by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter, the biggest rise since March 2004. Compared with last year, sales in June were up 3.6% , the Office for National Statistics said.

JOBS GROWTH Employment is increasing at a level not matched in the last 16 years, Markit said. The all sector PMI employment index rose from a previous high of 56.4 in May to a new peak of 58.8 in June. The data was first compiled in June 1998.

ECONOMIC GROWTH Britain is on track to grow this year at its fastest rate since 2007. The UK economy is firing on all cylinders said Chris Williamson, the chief economist for Markit. A renewed upturn in growth of new orders across all three sectors to a six month high in June suggests the the economy should pick up speed again in the second half of the year, . Mr Williamson said. The economy was on course to grow by at least 3% in 2014, which would be the strongest annual performance for 7 years.

STRONG MANUFACTURING The Office for National Statistics released strong manufacturing data suggesting growth was gaining momentum. Britains factory output grew by 4.4% in the year to April, the fastest annual pace since February 2011. "Britains factories are booming" Chris Williamson, the chief economist at Markit, said "The data not only indicates that the recovery has strong momentum, but also that the economy is re-balancing".

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE British consumers have been buoyed by the most dramatic improvement in economic confidence for 37 years. People who were sunk in gloom only a year ago have become markedly less depressed about their economic circumstances and prospects, according to the GfK index of consumer sentiment. In the past 14 months, the index has climbed 27 points, the sharpest gain since the second half of 1977. Although the index has only climbed to zero, it has been in negative territory for more than nine years.

SME POSITION TO HIRE SME employers are nearly five times more likely to hire more people in the next quarter than larger businesses, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The proportion of smaller employers who expect to decrease levels in the the second quarter is -52 against +11 for larger employers

LATEPAYMENT More than a third of small and medium-sized businesses want larger companies who persistently pay late to be barred from government contracts. Only 9% of 500 SMEs surveyed by BFS said that their debtors were making prompt payments at the end of 2013, compared with one in five in 2009. A separate report by the Forum of Private Business showed that almost a quarter of its members had suffered an increase in late payments over the past year, in stark contrast with 3% who reported a decrease. About 29% have witnessed a rise in the average number of days beyond the deadline that payment is made late.

UK CONSTRUCTION The construction PMI, produced by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply, slipped to 62.6 in February from 64.6 in January. Economists had forecast a fall to 63. Despite the weather, housebuilding was strong by recent standards. The sub-index fell from 67.3 to 62.1, suggesting that activity "continued to increase sharply". Job creation was at its highest in three months as 59% of construction companies expected a rise in output over the year.

RIGHT KIND OF GROWTH Britain enjoyed the "right kind of growth" in the final three months of 2013 as business investment and trade took over from consumption as the main drivers of the recovery. Official figures showed the long awaited revival in corporate spending finally had picked up speed, with investment growing by 2.4% to £31.8 billion in the fourth quarter, the highest since September 2007.Trade also contributed to growth as imports fell and exports grew by 0.7% in final three months of 2013, with 0.4% delivered by trade and 0.2% by business investments.

HOUSEBUILDING Housebuilding in England last year recovered to levels not seen since the start of the financial crisis in 2007, giving the Help to Buy scheme a boost. New housing starts rose to 23% in 2013 to a six year high of 122,590 but remained far below the industrys peak of 183,000 in year to March 2006. Rates of new build in the final three months of this year increased by 23% on the same period in 2012, despite the bad weather