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Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 3.1% in the year to June 2011, compared with 3.2% in May - the first decrease in inflation since November 2010. This easing in the rate of inflation mainly reflected slower growth in energy prices, which increased by 13.6% in June, compared with 14.2% in May. Food prices rose by 4.0% in June, up from 3.9% in May.

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 11.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), despite a weaker feature phone market, which declined for the first time since 3Q09. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 365.4 million units in 2Q11 compared to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 11.3% growth was lower than IDC's forecast of 13.3% for the quarter and was also below the 16.8% growth in 1Q11.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index ® (LEI) for Mexico declined 0.4 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index ® (CEI) 0.2 percent in May.

At the end of last year pension funds had returned to their pre-crisis levels in most countries. This year, however, with the Euro zone crisis and other financial market issues, growing risks are making the outlook less clear.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia declined 0.1 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) also declined 0.1 percent in May.

Worldwide mobile payment users will surpass 141.1 million in 2011, a 38.2 percent increase from 2010, when mobile payment users reached 102.1 million, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide mobile payment volume is forecast to total $86.1 billion, up 75.9 percent from 2010 volume of $48.9 billion.

Mortgage rates declined for the second week in a row, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 4.68 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.39 discount and origination points.

There are significant gaps between what consumers want from their insurers and what they feel they are receiving, even though overall satisfaction levels are high, according to an Accenture (NYSE: ACN) survey of 7,000 people from 13 countries.

The global economic outlook remains positive in spite of a sharp deterioration in investor sentiment towards and within Europe, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for July.

The Pacific’s resource-rich economies of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Timor-Leste will continue to expand strongly this year as commodity prices remain firm but growth in the rest of the region is set to remain subdued, says the new issue of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Pacific Economic Monitor.