Business week in pictures

Union leaders and workers at the March for Jobs, part of a campaign organised by the Unite union in Birmingham. The demonstration was part of a campaign to press ministers to do more to help manufacturers weather the recession and hold back the tide of job losses that has engulfed British industry. The chancellor, Alistair Darling, later shrugged off gloomy forecasts and claimed the recession would be over by Christmas Photograph: David Jones/PA

Japan suffered a record fall in GDP, which shrank at an annualised rate of 15.2% between January and March, the worst decline since records began in 1955 Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters

Space shuttle astronaut Mike Massimino, part of the Nasa team sent to repair and upgrade the Hubble space telescope. Massimino sent the first 'tweets' from orbit to Twitter, the social networking site, on which he is known as Astro_Mike. One message read: 'From orbit: Just saw Orion’s nebula in the night sky – the sights make all the hard work and risk worthwhile for me' Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

M&S cut its shareholder dividend by a third as its annual profits fell sharply, but went ahead with its 125th birthday celebrations and launched a three-day promotion in which hundreds of thousands of items went on sale for 1p Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

The recession has pushed UK inflation to its lowest level since 1948 – the cost of living fell by more than 1% over the last year Photograph: Picture Post/Hulton Archive

As co-owner of rail operator Virgin Trains, Sir Richard Branson called for an overhaul of rail franchises, claiming that longer contracts would increase investment and revenues and that the current system 'does not work' Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

A shopper reaches for a bottle of Boots No 7 Protect and Perfect Intense Beauty Serum in a branch of the chain in Bournemouth. The popular skin cream has helped to lift Alliance Boots' profits by 11%, but the company cut 1,500 jobs nonetheless, saying it had to save £55m a year by 2011-12 Photograph: Peter Willows/Rex Features

A salesman walks past a car displaying the scrappage allowance in a Citroen showroom in Birmingham. But Ford and Honda pulled out of the government's scrappage scheme, saying they wanted the 'dog's dinner' of the old-cars-for-cash initiative cleared up before they committed to it Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

SSL, the owner of the Durex brand, announced a rise in annual profits despite the downturn, helped by the success of its Play sex aids brand, although management was keen to play down the idea that contraception was a 'recession-proof' sector Photograph: Linda Nylind

Xavier Rolet, the new chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, who started work on Thursday, replacing Dame Clara Furse. London's status as the largest international centre to raise capital and deal in stocks and shares can be maintained, despite intense competition from rivals, he said Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP

Gordon Brown addressed the CBI annual dinner in London, saying there must be no 'complacency' about Britain's economic situation. He was attacked from the podium for 'economic vandalism' for introducing a 50p income tax rate Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA