Euro Inflation Down 0.1%

Annual inflation in Europe in March, measured by HICPs, fell by 0.1% in both zones to 1.7% in the euro area and 1.9% in the EU27 from 1.8% and 2% respectively in February. Euro area monthly inflation (MUICP) was 1.2% in March and in the EU27 inflation for March was 0.9%.

Greece had the lowest annual inflation rate in March at -0.2%. Latvia reported -0.3%. The highest annual rate of inflation was in Romania with 4.4%. The UK reported no figures. Electricity (0.17%) and package holidays (0.12%) had the biggest impact in inflation while the biggest downward effects came from transport (-0.23%) and telecommunications (-0.22%).

Lifestyles Data

The pattern of UK music sales over the past 35 years has changed from mainly vinyl in 1975 (92m), to cassettes in 1989 (83m) and CDs in 1992 (71m) and now in 2008, downloads account for 7% of the market (10.3m).

Other interesting cultural facts include that in 2008 only 42% of over 15 year olds read a national daily paper compared with 72% in 1978. There was a 0.2% increase in British people taking holidays abroad between 2007-8 to make a new record of 45.5m holidays.

In 2008 there were 164m UK cinema admissions compared with the 1.6bn admissions at the peak of cinema attendance in 1948. The 2008 figure is a 1.1% increase on 2007 but a fall of 6.7% on the most recent peak of 176m visits in 2002. The proportion of men and women going to the cinema has remained unchanged. More males over 7 (20%) went to the cinema than females over 7 (17%). The age group that goes to the cinema most frequently are the 15-24 year olds with 41% going at least once a month along with 31% of 7-14 year olds and 22% of 25-34 year olds.

Film genre preferences varied with age. The most popular genres for 7-14s were comedy, musicals, family films and animations, 15-24s preferred youth-themes, crime, action and comedy films, 35-44s preferred adventure and animation, 45-54s preferred drama, musicals and action and over 55s preferred drama, musicals and comedy.

In 2008 15 of the top 20 films at the UK box office were US productions and the other 5 were UK/US collaborations including 'Mamma Mia', 'Quantum of Solace' and 'The Dark Knight' according to the UK Film Council.

Product News 3

Here’s an opportunity to browse some offerings from Webgains. Hardcloud is inspired by music, skate and surf culture. They strive to bring the best online selection of clothing and accessories from a fresh new perspective. The web site is easy to use and provides excellent customer service. Brand they stock include Animal, Hurley, Volcom, Billabong Roxy, Vans, DC, Nixon, Etnies and Reef. There is a unique store specialising in men's clothing, GelaSkins and designer toys. Urban Retro also stock T-shirts and other clothing for men from a variety of brands. They have the biggest range of GelaSkins in the UK. They are specialists in designer vinyl toys, plush toys and licensed toys from Sesame Street and Super Mario among others. They sell a full range of lifestyle and home products including posters, art prints, mugs and magazines. Standard delivery is free on orders over £40.

You can browse and buy exclusive brands such as Kenneth Cole and Linea to fashion renowned brands such as Diesel, Hugo Boss and Armani, online at House of Fraser. As one of Britain’s leading premium department stores, House of Fraser has thousands of products, ranging from designer clothes for women, men and children to luxurious homeware and electicals.

Venture Sport is of the largest retailers of outdoor equipment and clothing. It sells over 97 leading brands of the best quality outdoor wear, equipment and clothing. Well-known brands include Craghoppers, Berghaus, Brasher and Vaude. They are all in the warehouse ready to go. They say 98% of orders are sent within 24 hours.

If you are planning a holiday as many people do at this time of year, Dales Holiday Cottages have over 600 cottages available to book online throughout the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire Moors, Yorkshire Coast and Wolds, the Derbyshire Dales, Northumbria, the Northern Dales, the Lake District, Cumbria and Eden Valley, the Scottish Borders and the Highlands of Scotland.

Online accomodation specialist HotelConnect offers hotels, cheap and cheerful bargain accomodation for breaks and holidays in cities in Europe and the USA.

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