The Commerce Department has today revealed US housing starts slumped in April – much worse than forecast. Housing starts dived 10.6% in the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000 units, analysts had expected an annual rate of 563,000. In the meantime, applications for building permits, a barometer of future home construction, also [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) surged to an annual rate of 4.5% in April – a level not seen since October 2008 and higher than forecasts of a rise to 4.2%. The surprise surge in inflation comes after the rate dropped to 4% in March and was attributed [...]
India’s wholesale price index, the country’s main inflation rate, eased last month to an annual 8.66% from March’s figure of 9.04%. However, the figure was still above the 8.48% expected by analysts and comes as fuel and food prices continue to rise. The food price index increased 8.71%, while the fuel price index rose 13.32% [...]
The Cabinet Office has today revealed Japanese consumers continue to be pessimistic following the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit the north east on 11 March. The consumer confidence index dived from 38.6 in March to 33.1 last month – much worse than the 36.7 expected by analysts. Meanwhile, all the four sub-components of households’ [...]
Inflation in the world’s second largest economy cooled last month as food prices eased slightly. Consumer inflation fell to 5.3% in April on an annual basis, down from March’s 3-year high of 5.4%. Today’s figures suggest attempts by the Government to rein in prices are having a positive impact. There have been fears of the [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today reported a pick up in the number of house viewings in April, as a result of the warm weather. This time of year is traditionally busy for the housing market but securing a mortgage remains difficult for many potential buyers – particularly first-time buyers. Furthermore, the [...]
The long bank holiday weekends and sunny weather has led to a surge in retail sales for the month of April, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The BRC said retail sales grew 5.2% last month due to the late Easter holidays, hot weather and Royal Wedding, with clothing, barbecue food, champagne and [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices plunged by 1.4% in April compared with March, driven by weak consumer confidence in the housing market. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £160,395, the Halifax said. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, prices are 3.7% lower – the biggest [...]
House prices in England and Wales were unchanged in April, with no price fall recorded for the first time in nine months, according to Hometrack. A 0.3% rise in London prices offset small falls of up to -0.3% across other regions, with just under a quarter of the country showing falls. The housing intelligence firm [...]
UK house prices fell by 0.2% in April, leaving the value of the typical home down 1.3% on a year earlier, at £165,609, according to Nationwide. The decline follows a monthly increase of 0.5% in March and the three-month-on-three-month measure, which is a better measure of the underlying trend, shows a modest year-on-year rise of [...]
High Street sales remain sluggish, rising slightly in April compared with a year ago, but disappointing retailers’ expectations. According to the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), only 12% of retailers reported “good” sales last month, while 35% said they were “poor”. However, many retailing sub-sectors saw a modest improvement [...]
Job vacancies in the UK’s private sector fell in April, according to the latest employment index from recruitment specialist, Reed. The month registered a 2% drop in opportunities, compared with March, reflecting slower growth in the banking and tourism sectors, although vacancies were up 22% on an annual basis. The year-on-year rise is due to [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a rise in asking prices for the month of April – the fourth consecutive month of growth. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales grew 0.9% on an annual basis. The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the properties on the market, [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence fell more than forecast in April – the second consecutive monthly drop. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, plunged to 7.6 from 14.1 points in March. Analysts had expected the index to hover around the 10 [...]
There is speculation that the Government may delay the 1p rise in fuel duty – planned for next month. The move is believed to be announced in this week’s Budget and comes as the price of petrol has surged to more than £1.30 a litre, due to concerns about the ongoing civil unrest in Libya [...]
Respected think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), has today revealed three quarters of a million people will become higher rate taxpayers from April. The earnings threshold will be lowered to £35,001 from £37,400 on 5 April – with the IFS estimating that the average household will be £200 worse off. The study from [...]
House prices were 10.1% higher in April than a year earlier, having gained 0.4% during March. New figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government put the average cost of a UK home at £207,516, taking into account a 0.9% rise over the three months to the end of April. However, the quarterly increase [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in April, raising fears about the strength of the economic recovery. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in April compared with March – far below analysts expectations of a 0.5% rise and follows a rise of 2.2% in March. The [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade gap widened in April, hit by disruption due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which hit both exports and imports. According to the ONS, exports fell 0.6% in April – the first fall since January’s decline of 5.7% which was hit by the [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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