The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a severe decline in UK consumer confidence for the month of February. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged to 38 in February – a fall of 10 points and the lowest level since records began in May 2004. The latest fall means confidence is [...]
The Labor Department has today revealed US prices rose by 2.1% on an annual basis in February – up from 1.6% in January. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.5% – the fastest rise since June 2009, driven by higher oil and food costs. Food costs rose by 0.6% month-on-month, the most in two-and-a-half [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a rise in UK car production for the month of February. UK car production rose 15.1% versus the same month a year ago, the SMMT said, with the total number of cars produced at 111,983. For the year-to-date, car production is 12% [...]
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat has revealed inflation in the euro zone rose to 2.4% on an annual basis in February, up from January‘s 2.3%. The rate remains above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of just below 2% and marks the third consecutive month inflation has been above target and represents the highest [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a decline in US housing starts for the month of February. According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes dived 22.5% on a monthly basis in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 479,000 units. This represented the second lowest level since records began in 1959 [...]
The Commerce Department revealed US retail sales grew strongly in February – representing the eighth consecutive monthly rise. According to the Commerce Department, sales grew 1% in February – higher than January’s revised 0.7%. However, economists had expected sales to moderate as consumers are hit by soaring petrol prices. The turmoil in the Middle East [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK producer output prices increased 0.5% on a monthly basis in February, taking the annual rate to 5.3% – the highest since October 2008 and the fifth monthly gain. Meanwhile, producer input prices for February were 14.6% higher on an annual basis – also the highest rate [...]
China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has today revealed the consumer price index rose 4.9% in February on an annual basis – the same figure as January. However, inflation is still well in excess of the 3% target set by the Government and was higher than analysts forecasts of 4.7%. The Government recently announced measures [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed UK car sales fell by 7.7% in February compared with the same month in 2010. However, traditionally February is a quiet month for the car industry, with many waiting for the new number plate in March. The continuous fall in sales was expected due to [...]
Official figures have today revealed China returned to a trade deficit last month on the back of a sharp slowdown in exports. According to the Customs Authorities, exports grew just 2.4% in February on an annual basis to $96.74 billion, while imports rose 19.4% to $104.04 billion. This compares with a 38% rise in exports [...]
Retail sales fell last month – providing further evidence of a fragile economic recovery. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like sales fell 0.4% in February on an annual basis after a 2.3% rise in January. The trade body attributed the fall to the ongoing squeeze on household incomes as fears [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today revealed the UK housing market remains weak. However, it appears house price falls are easing. While prices in England and Wales continued to fall last month, it was at the slowest pace since last summer. The Rics revealed 26% more surveyors reported house price falls than [...]
The Labor Department has today revealed the unemployment rate in the US has fallen again from 9% in January to 8.9% in February. It represents the third consecutive month that the rate has fallen with the economy creating 192,000 jobs in the month – far better than expectations. However, the total number of unemployed people [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by 0.9% last month compared with January, when prices rose 0.8%. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £162,657, the Halifax said. Meanwhile, in the three months to February, prices dropped 2.8% on an annual basis – the fastest [...]
Growth in the UK’s closely-watched service sector slowed in February, figures have revealed today. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 52.6 in February from January’s eight month high of 54.5. Analysts had expected the index to hit a level of 54.0 in February. December saw a negative [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the eighth consecutive month in February. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.2% on the month – however, this was the smallest decline for six months. On an annual basis, meanwhile, house prices were 2.7% lower in February – the [...]
Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, saw a further fall in the number of people out of work in February to 3.07 million – the lowest since September 1992. The Federal Labour Office said unemployment dropped by 52,000 in February, taking the unemployment rate to 7.3%, from January‘s 7.4%. The country’s job market has performed [...]
Manufacturing activity in China eased in February, two separate surveys have revealed today. Firstly, the official China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said its purchasing managers index (PMI) dipped to 52.2 in February from January’s 52.9. According to the CFLP, this was the third consecutive month in which activity fell. However, the index remains [...]
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) has today revealed UK manufacturing activity held its record high in February. The record level was attributed to higher factory costs, indicating pricing pressures are growing. The closely-watched CIPS/Markit manufacturing PMI remained at 61.5 in February – which represents the highest reading [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.3% rise for the month of February compared with January. The latest rise, which was unexpected, means house prices are now 0.1% lower than this time last year with the average UK home costing £161,183. However, despite the latest rise, the majority [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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