Business week in pictures

UK unemployment has hit a fresh 17-year high after the public sector shed thousands more jobs and the private sector failed to pick up the slack. Youth unemployment held at a record high of over 1 million and the total number of unemployed people rose to 2.64m over the three months to October, according to official figures Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

Stock markets slumped and the euro hit a fresh 11-month low against the dollar amid renewed fears that Europe will be forced to rescue Italy and Spain from a lending boycott by international investors. French lenders Société Générale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell between 6.7% and 8% as rumours persisted that the extent of their bad loans to indebted eurozone countries would lead to France losing its AAA status. Pictured: A dog at a protest against government austerity measures in Lyon, France Photograph: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images

In a long-awaited 452-page report into what went wrong at Royal Bank of Scotland, Lord Turner, chairman of the FSA said that the public wants to know how the bank failed and why no one has been punished. As well as blaming the bank's management - led by Sir Fred Goodwin - the FSA also admits that the international rules for banks at the time were inadequate Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Debt-stricken tour operator Thomas Cook, which confirmed on Wednesday that it is to close almost one in six of its 1,300 travel agents in Britain as it tries to reduce its borrowings, has reported a pre-tax loss of £398m after a series of punishing writedowns Photograph: Thomas Cook archive

Struggling lingerie chain La Senza has become the latest retailer to call in restructuring experts Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

The company behind the Superdry brand said the coming fortnight would be key to its fortunes, as new high street visitor data suggested that all retailers' Christmas sales were balanced on a 'knife edge' Photograph: PR

Andy Street, managing director of department store chain John Lewis, says judging by his company's performance, he expects retailers to perform better over the festive season than many analysts expect Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Costa Coffee, Premier Inn and Beefeater owner Whitbread said that growth had slowed in the 13 weeks to 1 December, with like-for-like sales up 2.4% compared to a 3% rise across the last three quarters Photograph: Keith Morris/Alamy

The Co-operative could emerge as a major force in British banking after it was named as preferred bidder for the 632 branches that Lloyds Banking Group is being forced to sell to meet European competition rules. Pictured: Occupy London protesters in a Lloyds Bank in central London Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The Lloyds Banking Group boss, António Horta-Osório, will return to work on 9 January after recovering from an insomnia-induced physical collapse Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

The tension between America and China over international trade escalated on Wednesday when Beijing imposed additional duties on cars imported from the United States. General Motors faces the greatest impact, almost 22% extra on some sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and other cars with engine capacities above 2.5 litres. Chrysler faces a 15% penalty, while a 2% levy will be imposed on BMW, whose US plants make many of the cars it exports to China. Pictured: A mechanic works on a Buick at a General Motors (GM) dealership in Shanghai Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline. America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. Pictured: Ronald Williams, chairman and chief executive officer of Aetna Inc. who exercised 2.4m options for a profit of $50.4m Photograph: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg via Getty Images