US jobless rate hits 10% for the first time since the early 1980s

Monthly figures from the US department of labour revealed that employers cut a higher-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October
- FTSE goes into reverse after US jobless numbers
BA makes record loss of £292m

Plunge into the red comes as BA, which intends to cut 3,000 jobs over the next six months, fights to stave off Christmas strike action that will deepen its financial woes. By Dan Milmo
- Willie Walsh: Strike talk is premature
- British Airways reduces cabin crew
Royal Bank of Scotland to miss government's £16bn lending target

State-owned RBS, which reported a £2.1bn loss today, said that business customers' reluctance to borrow more means that it will miss the target set by the government. By Jill Treanor
Insolvencies hit record high

The number of insolvencies has increased by 28.2% over the past year as unemployment and credit problems bite, Insolvency Service says
Rentokil recovery finally on track

City Link, Rentokil's struggling parcel delivery division, is set to return to the black in the last three months of the year. By Julia Kollewe
Quantitative easing extended to £200bn

Mervyn King resists call to pump £50bn into economy to reverse six quarters of falling output – and holds rates at 0.5%. By Larry Elliott

Putin attacks GM for U-turn on Opel

General Motors's scrapping of its Magna and Sberbank agreement leads to protests in Germany and Russia – but relief at Britain's Vauxhall plants
UK producer price inflation jumps

Annual input price inflation for British manufacturers turned positive in October for the first time since February
Government rules out reversing fare increases on east coast rail line

The handover of the National Express franchise to the Department for Transport will take place a month early due to funding problems
- FirstGroup to get £140m state subsidy