Business week in pictures

Toyota sold 8.42m vehicles globally in 2010, remaining the world's top automaker for the third year running despite recall woes in the key North American market. Toyota's global sales, including truckmaker Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor, which makes small cars, rose 8% from 2009, driven by solid sales growth in China and other Asian nations, the Japanese manufacturer said. However, Toyota also this week had to recall nearly 19,000 cars in the UK because of potential problems with their fuel systems. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

Nick Clegg has indicated the government would back a breakup of the banks to make them safe and protect the British economy from having to bail them out again. The deputy prime minister said there was a very strong case for separating high-risk "casino" banking from low-risk high street banking to ensure banks were no longer "too big to fail" Photograph: Jeff Overs/PA

The UK economy shrank by a shock 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010 as Britain's recovery from recession faltered. Most of the unexpected contraction was caused by the wintry weather that gripped Britain last month, the Office for National Statistics said. Without it, GDP would probably have been flat – suggesting that the UK economy had already run out of steam before the snow hit. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Graduate employers are predicting a surge in vacancies this summer after offering more jobs than expected last year, according to a survey of over 200 recruiters. Salaries are likely to remain static, the survey indicates, but vacancies are predicted to increase by 3.8% this year. The brighter outlook for university leavers follows an unexpected increase in vacancies last year, the first growth in the graduate job market since the recession Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Britain's economic recovery has "ground to a halt", the new shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said in his first significant intervention since taking over the job. Balls said that the faltering growth figures - the UK economy shrunk by 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010 - should cause the government to pause and "rethink" its deficit-reduction strategy. Photograph: Paul Grover / Rex Features/Paul Grover / Rex Features

The government borrowed less than expected last month, leaving it on course to meet its financial target for the year. Britain's net debt excluding the banking bailout ended the year at £889bn, equivalent to 59.3% of GDP. Including the government's interventions to help Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, debt stood at £2.3tn, or 154.9% of GDP. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Network Rail presided over a "culture of fear" that led to the under-reporting of staff accidents, an inquiry has found, but the owner of Britain's rail infrastructure has been cleared of suppressing safety breaches in order to hit bonus targets. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Rupert Murdoch cancelled his visit to the Davos global economic summit in order personally to lead negotiations with the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in an effort to get News Corporation's £8bn buyout of Sky approved by offering guarantees to safeguard Sky News's independence. It wasn't all bad news for Murdoch though, as BSkyB's latest profit figures reported a rise of 26% as customer base tops the 10 million mark. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Bank of England's interest rate-setters were split three ways at their meeting this month, fuelling concerns that policymakers seeking to fix Britain's ailing economy have become paralysed. Two members of the Bank's nine-strong monetary policy committee backed an interest rate rise to combat inflation, while another voted for looser monetary policy to tackle flagging growth. The other six voted for no change Photograph: David Levenson /Alamy

Barclays announced it was shutting its financial planning arm, with the potential loss of up to 1,000 roles. The bank has begun consultation with staff and the union Unite about closing its financial planning business, whose staff provide face-to-face advice to customers through the bank's 1,674 branches across the country. There was gloomy unemployment news also from the retail sector, which cut the equivalent of 10,000 jobs in December Photograph: Niall McDiarmid /Alamy

Ireland's finance minister has done a U-turn on a decision not to tax bankers' bonuses at 90%. Brian Lenihan was forced to reintroduce the super-tax on the controversial bonuses after three independent TDs threatened to collapse the parliament today and force an immediate general election if he didn't change his plan Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton/Reuters

The international speculator George Soros warned David Cameron that the government would push the British economy back into recession unless it modified its hardline austerity package. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the hedge fund owner who famously wrecked the reputation for financial competence of the last Conservative administration on Black Wednesday, said the mix of tax increases and spending cuts planned by the coalition was unsustainable Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Starbucks baristas at its UK cafes will be handed free shares worth up to £500 after the coffee chain reported another quarter of "healthy" growth. The Seattle-based firm said 6,700 UK staff, including part-time baristas, would be entitled to the shares, dubbed "bean stock", with individual awards worth between £370 and £500 based on the current share price Photograph: British Retail Photography/Alamy

BSkyB has admitted that it has spent £7m in relation to News Corporation's bid to take full ownership. The revelation came as the company announced its half-year profits rose 26% and hit its long-term target of passing the 10 million customer mark Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images