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LONDON (AFX) - The UK’s economic growth will remain robust this year but begin to ease going into next year, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research said today.

As part of a bi-annual report for the European Commission on the UK and euro area economies, the NIESR said it expects UK GDP to grow by 2.75 pct this year and 2.50 pct in 2008. Inflation should moderate from 2.8 pct currently to hover just above the Bank of England’s 2.0 pct target over the next couple of years.

The 2007 Budget presented last week by Chancellor Gordon Brown should see government spending as a share of GDP falling from 39.1 pct in 2007/08 to 38.5 pct in 2010/11, the NIESR said. This will allow the general government deficit to remain below 3.0 pct of GDP.

The forecasts for the euro area see GDP growing by 2.5 pct this year and 2.2 pct in 2008. Inflation is expected to average 1.8 pct in 2007 but accelerate to 2.0 pct next year on the back of higher wage settlements.

The key driver of the euro area, the labour market, is expected to continue to improve, with the unemployment rate averaging 7.2 pct this year and 6.8 pct next year.

The NIESR added that while further weakness in the US housing market does constitute a risk to growth in the euro zone and UK, it would have a much smaller impact than an internationally-based adjustment, such as a dollar depreciation caused by an adjustment in the current account deficit.

carlo.piovano@thomson.com

cp/cp/slm

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TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The unemployment rate stood at 4.0 pct in February, unchanged from the previous month and in line with market expectations, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

The male jobless rate fell to 4.0 pct from 4.1 pct in January, while the female unemployment rate increased to 4.0 pct from 3.8 pct, the ministry said.

(1 usd = 118.04 yen)

kaori.kaneko@xfn.com

kk/mas

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To see the full “Mad Money” Recap, please click here.

Here’s what Jim Cramer had to say about some of the stocks that callers offered up during the “Mad Money Lightning Round” Thursday evening:

Saks (SKS) : “The company is en fuego. This is one of my favorite situations. … Saks I think is going up 4 or 5 more points.”

Gmarket (GMKT) : Cramer said it just reported a “horrible” quarter.

Sprint Nextel (S) : “I was impressed about that last quarter … really felt the company had lost its way [before that] . They blew away the numbers. … This company is doing everything right. I think Sprint is now a BuyBuyBuy, particularly under 20. That stock could go much higher.”

Global Industries (GLBL) : “Part of the driller complex. I have been watching GlobalSantaFe (GSF) , Transocean (RIG) and Halliburton (HAL) ,” the latter two Cramer has in his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust. Cramer said he would swap out of Global Industries and go into one of the three he mentioned.

Logitech (LOGI) : “I’m surprised this stock isn’t doing better … [although] they did miss the quarter. I think the stock is a buy. I’m not backing way from Logitech.”

Dean Foods (DF) : Cramer said the company is “all about” returning money to shareholders. “That special dividend plan is brilliant. … That’s a great company.”

Genzyme (GENZ) : “I think you gotta buy this company. … Genzyme’s good, Celegene’s (CELG) good, Gilead’s (GILD) good. Bring ‘em in, bring ‘em in.”

RF Micro Devices (RFMD) : “I would SellSellSell, and when it comes in, back to 6, that’s when you pull the trigger.”

Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) : “A very speculative stock. I’m reluctant to recommend it with a lot of the great biotech trading down.”

Research In Motion (RIMM) : “I do think that RIM is a good place to be, not a great place to be. … I can’t recommend here. One of the few tech stocks that haven’t come down enough to pull the trigger.”

Walter Industries (WLT) : “That stock is an inexpensive stock. … Too darn hard to understand. But I’m not backing away. There’s a lot of value.”

Baxter (BAX) : “That along with Bard (BCR) and Becton Dickinson (BDX) may be the three best medical stocks to play today. … Baxter’s a winner.”

ExpressJet (XJT) : “DontBuyDontBuy.”

MasterCard (MA) : “You need to buy more MasterCard. I would pull the trigger multiple times.”

Emerson Electric (EMR) : “One of the best-run manufacturers in the country.” Cramer also likes Parker Hannifin (PH) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW) .

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) : “Time to sell.”

Pioneer Drilling (PDC) : “I do not want to see you in PDC.”

Take-Two (TTWO) : Cramer sees nothing to the core business.

Vail Resorts (MTN) : “It’s had a big run. … That’s a good stock on a pullback. I would have to BuyBuyBuy.”

Regal Entertainment (RGC) : “These cinema companies are good. … This one’s got a nice dividend.”

*For all you home-gamers, a ‘mon-back opportunity means Cramer would back up the figurative truck and load up on a stock.

Want more Cramer? Check out Jim’s rules and commandments for investing from his latest book by http://www.thestreet.com/tsc/cramerbook.

DALLAS - J.C. Penney Co. removed some fur-trimmed coats from its racks around Christmas after animal-rights activists objected that the fur came from wild dogs in China.

Last week, the department-store company put the coats back on the racks but only after directing employees to use marker pens to blot out the line on the label that identified the trim as raccoon fur.

The fur-collared leather coats were sold under the house brands St. Johns Bay and a.n.a., and by this week they were marked down at a Penneys in Dallas from the original $349.99 to $74.99. About two dozen remained.

We sold a lot of them during Christmas, said a saleswoman at a Penney store in North Carolina who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared losing her job. I hope people who bought those coats arent animal-lovers. But I guess if theyre wearing fur, theyre not.

By putting the coats back on the racks, Penney is charting a different course than rival Macys, which last month pulled Sean John jackets after they turned out to contain the same fur. Macys said it has a policy against selling products with dog fur.

Animal-rights groups are using the incident to pressure Penney to drop sales of all real fur, including fox. A few clothiers such as Polo Ralph Lauren and J. Crew Group Inc. have stopped using fur, and designers Kenneth Cole and Calvin Klein have promised to follow suit.

But Penney, with more than 1,000 stores catering to middle-income shoppers, says it has no plans to alter its fashion selections.

We do sell a few fur-trim items. We will continue to do so, said Darcie Brossart, a spokeswoman for the Plano, Texas-based company.

Fur-harvesting
Penney also downplays any link between Lassie and the animal whose fur is used on some of its garments. That animal is usually called a raccoon dog because of its full coat and dark patches around the eyes.

Asiatic raccoon is the species name, Brossart said. Its on the Federal Trade Commissions list of fur that is legal to sell in the United States. Its not a dog.

Animal-rights advocates counter that although it looks like an oversized, fluffy raccoon and isnt kept as a pet, it is a canine breed something Penney doesnt dispute.

They are definitely a member of the dog family, said Kristin Leppert, manager of the anti-fur campaign at The Humane Society of the United States. Whats equally important is that theyre getting killed by the millions in the most atrocious way.

Activists from Swiss Animal Protection posing as a documentary film crew say they went to China and photographed raccoon dogs and foxes being killed at large fur-harvesting operations.

The crews disturbing video posted on the Internet shows animals clubbed or slammed on the ground. Some continue writhing, gasping and blinking as they are skinned alive.

‘Raccoon’ blotted from labels
Clothing made with raccoon dog fur has turned up at several retailers, according to Leppert of the Humane Society. She said she bought a St. Johns Bay coat in Maryland and sent it for analysis at a German laboratory, which said the fur was raccoon dog instead of raccoon.

Penney sent samples to a lab near Dallas, which also confirmed the fur was raccoon dog, Brossart said. The coats were pulled off racks two days before Christmas.

Brossart said company lawyers determined it was legal to sell the coats as long as they didnt claim that the fur came from a particular species. A new order went to stores last week, and the word raccoon was blotted out from the labels.

We always knew we were selling real fur, Brossart said, but we didnt want any customers to think they were wearing raccoon. 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A major technical hitch means that up to 400,000 people will today find that their monthly pay has not gone into their bank account. Many of those affected could see their finances plunged into the red, as some will have mortgage payments and other bills going out today or over the weekend.

The problem came to light last night. But the banks have promised that no customer will be left out of pocket if the error makes them overdrawn.

The bank payments body Apacs said: “We are aware of a problem with the processing of a number of salary payments. This will unfortunately mean that up to 400,000 customers will not receive their monthly salary as expected [on] March 30 … The entire banking and payments industry is extremely sorry that this has happened. We are working to resolve the issue and limit the impact on individual customers.”

A spokeswoman said there had been a technical problem involving the payment processing systems. Initially the systems ran slower than usual, and then it was discovered that some data may have been corrupted.

The spokeswoman said all the banks and building societies were aware of what had happened and were working with employers who had been unable to pay their staff to ensure that those payments were made “at the next available date”. However, some of those affected will find they are unable to withdraw money from cash machines. They may be able to obtain cash over the counter.

Apacs said: “Unfortunately some personal customers may experience problems, for example, withdrawing funds from their current account, depending on their personal circumstances.” It added it was confident that everyone would have received their normal salary payment by Monday. Customers who are concerned are advised to contact their bank immediately.

“Our clear priority is to ensure that customers are not out of pocket and we guarantee that any customers affected will not miss any payments being made (like monthly mortgage payments) or suffer any charges for being overdrawn, where this has been caused by the missed salary payment,” said Apacs.