The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to publish GDP figures for the second quarter today – the first G7 country to do so. Analysts expect growth of 0.6% for the April to June quarter – which would represent the strongest performance since before the credit crunch. Strong growth is expected to come from [...]
Influential think tank, the National Institute of Social and Economic Research (NIESR) said the UK economy expanded by 0.5% in the three months to April. The Institute is expecting the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to upwardly revise its initial first quarter growth estimate. Last month, the ONS said the economy grew by just 0.2% [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output has experienced its fastest monthly expansion since July 2002. According to the ONS, output grew by 2% in March compared with February – far exceeding analyst expectations of a 0.3% rise. On an annual basis, output was also up 2% – the best showing [...]
Chinese inflation continued to increase last month on the back of rising house and food prices. According to China’s statistics bureau, consumer prices in April were up 2.8% on an annualised basis – the highest rate in 18 months, while house price inflation hit 12.8% – fuelled by new luxury housing in Shanghai. While the [...]
Industrial production in the euro zone exceeded expectations again in February, posting growth of 0.9% from January, while on an annual basis, output rose 4.1% – the biggest rise since April 2008. The figures were a surprise since economists had predicted a monthly gain of 0.2% and an annual rise of 2.9%, according to a [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output recovered in February after the slump experienced in January. According to the ONS, output grew by 1.3% in February after the 1% fall in January – boosted by an increase in production of food and drink, electrical and optical equipment as well as bricks [...]
The recovery in the world’s second largest economy appears to be faltering after figures today revealed a fall in industrial output. Japan’s industrial output has fallen for the first time in a year, by 0.9% in February, following strong growth in the previous month, according to official figures. “The first decline in the past year [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output unexpectedly fell in January – primarily due to the cold weather during the month. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in January compared with the previous month and represented the largest monthly fall since August. Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise. However, [...]
The recovery in the world’s second largest economy appears to be gathering strength after figures revealed a rise in industrial output and retail sales. Official figures have today revealed retail sales rose last month for the first time since August 2008. According to the Economics Ministry, retail sales were up 2.6% from a year earlier. [...]
Official figures have revealed further evidence of a strong recovery within India’s economy after industrial output surged by 16.8% in December compared with a year earlier – beating analysts expectations. According to analysts, the Government is likely to withdraw its stimulus measures as a result of the strong performance. The country’s central bank has injected [...]
Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong said China’s Government is targeting economic growth of around 8% in 2010. In a bid to boost China’s economy, which is the world’s third largest, the Government embarked on a massive stimulus package of infrastructure projects to create jobs. The stimulus package appears to have been successful [...]
China saw industrial output surge 19.2% ahead in November, compared to a year earlier, increasing from a 16.1% annual rise in October. In addition, domestic retail sales were up 15.8% year-on-year and while the country registered a 1.2% November fall in exports, the decline was the slowest so far this year. Last month’s figures from [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the record low of 0.5% for the ninth month in a row. Furthermore there are no changes to its quantitative easing (QE) programme. Last month, the Bank announced that it would pump another £25 billion into [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that UK industrial output showed no change in October from September – suggesting the economy made a poor start to the final quarter of the year. The data has disappointed analysts who had predicted an increase. According to Ross Walker from RBS, the recovery was “lagging” [...]
There is more good news for the world’s third largest economy today after China’s National Bureau of Statistics revealed a surge in industrial output. Industrial output rose to a 19-month high of 16.1% in October compared with a year earlier, exceeding market forecasts of 15.5%. Last month, official figures revealed that Chinese GDP growth surged [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence fell in November more than expected. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, fell from 56 in October to 51.1. Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, emerged from recession in the second quarter of the year after [...]
Hopes of a recovery within the UK economy were hit today after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a shock fall in UK industrial output in August. Manufacturing output fell 1.9% compared with July – the largest fall since January, according to the ONS. Analysts had expected a rise of 0.3%. Meanwhile, the wider [...]
Demand for cars and carmakers has resulted in a rise of 0.5% in US industrial output for the month of July – boosted by the US Government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), branded the “cash for clunkers” scheme. The rise was the first in 9 months and exceeded analysts forecasts. The rise in industrial output [...]
The Bank of England has elected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5% today for the fifth month in a row. Rates currently stand at the lowest level since the Bank was established over 300 years ago. Meanwhile, the Bank has announced plans to increase its quantitative easing (QE) programme to £175 billion – a [...]
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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