Although we may technically now be out of the recession, the majority of business sectors are still suffering, and the banks are no exception.

It’s a case of another day, another batch of job losses over at Lloyds Banking Group, as they today announced their intentions to cease operations in Ireland.

Lloyds has around 800 personnel in Ireland, although it’s not all bad news for these employees, as Lloyds confirmed that a large proportion are likely to be employed by the company which takes over.

Although some banks have recently announced healthy profits, it seems that they still aren’t immune to the effects of the ever-changing economy.

Finally there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon for UK businesses, as recent figures have shown that the number of companies who went into liquidation between the months of April and June this year dropped by a fifth compared to last year.

Although around four thousand companies in the UK went into liquidation, this is still a significant improvement on last year’s figures.

However, experts still don’t see any cause for celebration yet, and some have predicted that figures could rise again in 2011 due to spending cuts in the public sector.

Accounting expert Will Wright explained:

“You’ve got to take these figures in context; personal insolvencies have rocketed on the back of the consumer credit boom.”

The level of business confidence has surged in the third quarter according to a report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

This increased optimism  from traders and professionals may signify an end to the recession in the UK some analyts are quick to claim. The overall confidence level rose from -28.2 up to 4.8 from March to June 2009, marking one of the most drastic leaps since records began in 2003. The ICAEW is predicting an economic growth of of 0.5 per cent, breakinga  trend of five straight quarters of shrinkages.

The chief executive of ICAEW, Michael Izza, went as far as to state “the UK recession is at an end”.

The Bank of England was split over a decision to put more cash into the United Kingdom’s economy. The event was discovered after minutes from the Monetary Policy Committee were made public. The MPC meeting, which took place on 6th August 2009, discussed a measure put forward by the  Governer of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.

King suggested pumping a £25bn pumping in to the UK economy, which would have made the boost total £75bn. However, the policy was voted out by a majority and a sum of £50bn was setlled on. The backers of the extra £25bn stated that too little of a boost “might harm public confidence in the recovery, causing it to falter”.

Japan has joined a few other countries, namely Germany, France and Hong Kong, who have officially left recession status. Japan ‘beat’ the recession when their economy showed an overall growth of 0.9% in the second quarter of 2009, which runs from April to June.

At this time it is uncertain whether this growth will only be temporary and a lapse may return the country to a shrinking economy adn therefore reclassed as a recession. It is thought that a cash boost of almsot £160bn from the government in to the economy was a major factor in the positive results for the first time in over a year.

French and German economies also lifted themselves from recession by achieving a growth of 0.3% individually, while Hong Kong showed a great upswing, posting a growth of 3.3% in the second quarter.

A number of the biggest banks in the UK have revealed their financial results for the first 6 months of 2009. The figures give out quite a mixed message as, one the one hand, Barclays actually improved from the same time in 2008, with profits going from £2.75 billion to £2.98 billion. This contrasts with Northern Rock, the state-owned bank that was nationalised in 2008 after it had to be bailed out in 2007 by the taxpayer, who displayed increased losses of 24%, totalling £742 million in the first half of 2009.

HSBC still made positive figures, but profits fell by 43% compared to January-June 2008, this follows a trend where the banks profits were reduced by 26% in the same period of 2007. Lloyds Banking Group has been making headlines after they recorded a huge loss of £4 bn or more in the first half of 2009, although this is purportedly down to the debts and bad assets taken on during the takeover of HBOS last year.