Business week in pictures

Alistair Darling delivered his budget and attempted to lay down battle lines for next year's general election with a £7bn squeeze on the rich followed by a brutal freeze on public spending. Admitting that the worst year for economic growth since 1945 would create a £175bn hole in the public finances this year, the chancellor broke Labour's 2005 manifesto pledge not to raise income tax by lifting the top rate for those earning more than £150,000 to 50% from next April Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

One of the City's leading economists has warned that Britain faces years of swingeing spending cuts and tax rises if the country is ever to repay the record borrowing announced in the budget. Robert Chote, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said he was 'surprised' by the scale of the economic problem that the Treasury has admitted to in its economic forecasts. Chote has analysed the budget measures in detail, and believes that most of the £175bn that Darling needs to borrow in this financial year is 'essentially impervious' to economic recovery Photograph: David Moir/Reuters

The bosses of Britain's biggest companies will on average pay an extra £265,000 a year in income tax after the budget introduced a new 50% tax band, swept away personal allowances and abolished pension tax breaks for the wealthy. The TUC immediately welcomed the 'social justice' of higher tax rates, but critics said as many as 25,000 high earners will flee Britain to escape a top rate tax that will be among the highest of all the G20 nations Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian

Job seekers search for employment opportunities at a Graduate Recruitment Fair at the ExCeL Centre in London. Unemployment in Britain recorded its biggest jump in almost two decades last month, official figures revealed this week. Unemployment on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure leapt by 177,000 in the three months to February from the previous quarter, its biggest increase since 1991. This took the jobless total to 2.1 million - the highest level since Labour came to power in 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Traders and shoppers in the Leadenhall Market in the City of London. Deflation returned to Britain for the first time in nearly five decades as prices measured by the retail price index (RPI) were lower than the same time a year ago The Office for National Statistics said the RPI was 0.4% lower in March 2009 than it had been a year earlier. That was the first negative reading since March 1960, when Harold Macmillan was prime minister and John F Kennedy was running for the US presidency. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Tesco retail juggernaut announced record-breaking sales of more than £1bn a week and better than expected annual profits of more than £3bn despite the impact of the global downturn. The supermarket chain announced profits of £3.13bn for the 53 weeks to 28 February and Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said there were signs the recession was 'bottoming out' Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters

The acting chief financial officer of troubled US mortgage giant Freddie Mac was found dead in an apparent suicide. David Kellermann, 41, was found dead in his home in Vienna, Virginia on the outskirts of Washington. Police said no foul play was evident and that the cause and manner of death was under investigation by the state medical examiner. CNN reported Kellermann had hung himself, citing a law enforcement source Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Customers look at a display of flat screen televisions at a Best Buy store in San Francisco, California. Carphone Warehouse will create 10,000 jobs over the next four years as it opens 60 to 70 large home electronics stores in Britain as part of its joint venture with the American retailer. The news came as the company, which last year clinched a crucial £1.1bn deal with Best Buy that allowed it to pay off all its debts, confirmed it would split its TalkTalk residential broadband operation from its 2,400 retail stores Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Not content with plans to scrap check-in desks, charge passengers for using toilets and clobber customers with a £30 charge if their duty free won't fit into their hand luggage, Ryanair has hit on a new scheme for increasing revenue: a so-called fat tax for overweight travellers. In what appears as much a ruse to gain publicity as a serious policy, the Irish-based budget carrier said it would impose an as yet undecided extra levy on passengers who weigh considerably more than average Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP