the economic outlook

The CBI, the UK's largest employers' organisation, has warned that the UK economy is deteriorating faster than it previously thought.

There was "no doubt that the mood has darkened in the last two or three months," its director general Richard Lambert warned members in a letter.

Forecasters, including the CBI, had been "over-optimistic" about the economic outlook, he added.

High inflation and slowing growth have prompted fears of a possible recession.