In the 2012 first quarter, individuals’ disposable income fell to the lowest level since 2003, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. Spending power is being eroded because wages are failing to keep up with inflation causing the average disposable income in the first quarter to fall to £273. Disposable income including [...]
The UK economy could recover more quickly than expected according to economic forecasting group the Ernst & Young Item Club. The Item Club expects the UK to return to growth in the second half of this year, marking an end to the double-dip recession. However this depends on a solution being found to the debt [...]
New research by Santander has found that eleven million adults in the UK have no savings to fall back on in times of crisis. This equates to one in five adults, and those who are saving, are saving less than they used to, Santander found. Over the past year, the average amount saved each month [...]
Inflation fell to 2.8 per cent on the Consumer Prices Index in May, from 3 per cent in April, surprising economists who had not expected it to change. Inflation also fell on the Retail Prices Index, which includes housing costs, from 3.5 per cent in April to 3.1 per cent in June. Inflation is now [...]
British workers will start to benefit from lower inflation and taxes this year, ending the year £482 better off than they were in 2011, according to a new report. The Ernst & Young ITEM Club suggests that inflation could fall to two per cent by the end of the year, as long as oil prices [...]
The Bank of England is holding the base rate at 0.5 per cent and has decided not to extend its quantitative easing (QE) programme following a £50bn boost to the economy in February. The UK interest rate has now remained at 0.5 per cent for three years, despite high levels of inflation. Consumer Prices Index [...]
The cost of the majority of leisure activities has grown to its highest level for a decade while the amount of income people have left after paying all their bills is falling. According to new research by the Halifax, the cost of football tickets, train tickets, petrol, eating out and going to the gym have [...]
Higher food and clothing prices helped to push inflation up slightly to 3.5 per cent in March, from 3.4 per cent in February. The rise in inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was unexpected and represents a break in a downward trend which started in September. It is a setback to the Bank of [...]
Inflation fell sharply in January to 3.6 per cent on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), from 4.2 per cent in December, according to the latest official figures. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, which includes housing costs such as mortgage interest and council tax, fell to 3.9 per cent from 4.8 per cent. Although CPI inflation [...]
Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever has been given the backing of its trustee board for proposed changes to its pension scheme. The company’s employees are currently involved in strikes against the proposal to close its final salary pension scheme. In a statement the trustees said: “Whilst the trustee board does not welcome the company’s decision to [...]
This month’s official figures show that inflation has fallen from 4.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent but two new studies show that older age groups suffer the most from high inflation, and at 4.2 per cent it is still well above the government’s 2 per cent target. Saga’s monthly Price Index shows that since [...]
The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell to 4.2 per cent in December, from 4.8 per cent in November, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the third consecutive month that inflation has fallen and December’s figures represents the biggest monthly fall since April 2009. Inflation [...]
The Bank of England’s latest inflation attitudes survey suggests that fewer people believe inflation is being controlled effectively with interest rates. In August, when the survey was last carried out, the proportion satisfied that the Bank was doing its job to set interest rates to control inflation, versus those dissatisfied, was 16 per cent, but [...]
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation fell to 4.8 per cent in November it was revealed yesterday, representing the second consecutive 0.2 percentage point monthly decline. Although the price of domestic heating and alcohol increased during the month, this was offset by a fall in the cost of food, petrol, clothing, furniture and [...]
The UK’s economy will take five and a half years to recover to pre-recession levels according to Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. Speaking to the National Institute of Social and Economic Research, Mr Weale said that the recovery “unusually slow” and indicated that the Bank could enact more [...]
With inflation at 5 per cent savings can soon be eroded and yet the number of savings accounts offering 0.1% or less interest has soared over the past year. Consumer campaign group Which? reports that the number of easy-access and notice accounts paying 0.1% or less has increased by 23% to 384 and these low [...]
In its latest quarterly inflation report the Bank of England warns that the UK’s economic outlook has worsened. It suggests that the economy could stagnate until the middle of next year, with growth predictions for 2011 and 2012 cut to around 1 per cent, compared with its August forecast of 1.7 per cent growth in [...]
Inflation fell to 5 per cent in October helped by a price war between major supermarkets, with food and petrol prices being slashed as they competed with each other. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 5 per rise in the consumer-price index in the 12 months to October, compared with [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has today elected to cut interest rates by one quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% in a bid to bolster growth. The move, which was widely expected, comes as the global economy slows and unemployment rises (currently at 5.2%). It was the first time in two-and-a-half years that [...]
Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s Governor, has confessed that the latest round of stimulus is not guaranteed to boost lending to SMEs. The ongoing lack of credit to SMEs has been a major concern for the Government as these companies are the key to job creation in the UK and are expected to be [...]
Households more optimistic about their finances
Household finances are still deteriorating, but at a slower rate, according to the Markit household finance index. The index increased from 37.5 in July to 38.9 in August, with figures above 50 representing a positive change in household finances, and figures below 50 representing a negative change. The August figure represents the third consecutive monthly [...]
Think tank calls for council housing sell off
The Policy Exchange, a leading UK think tank, is calling for expensive social housing to be sold as it becomes vacant. This could raise £4.5 billion a year and the money could be used to create the largest social house building programme since the 1970s, the think tank suggests in a new report. Between 80,000 [...]
Barclays appoints new chairman
Barclays has announced the appointment of Sir David Walker as its new chairman. He will take over from Marcus Agius who resigned from the role after Barclays was fined £290 million by regulators in the UK and US for manipulating Libor, the interbank lending rate. The appointment of Sir David, a respected and experienced banker, [...]
Post Office stepping up mortgage offering
The Post Office is expanding its mortgage service with the introduction of mortgage specialists in its branches. Mortgages have been available from the Post Office since 2009, but applications have had to be made online or over the phone. It currently offers mortgage with deposits as low as 10 per cent and plans to enhance [...]
Help Loan closed after breaching money-laundering rules
Payday Loan company MCO Capital has been closed down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and fined £544,000 after failing to check the identity of its borrowers. The firm, which traded as Help Loan, was targeted by criminals and cheated of more than £1.5m by the fraudsters due to its negligence. The criminals stole [...]
Health insurance becoming unaffordable warns Bupa
The rising cost of private healthcare is pushing health insurance in the UK up to unaffordable levels, according to international healthcare group Bupa. A lack of competition among private hospitals has led to the cost of treatment rising, and the insurer says that this could lead to health insurance becoming unaffordable. An increase in the [...]
Bank of England forecasts zero economic growth
The Bank of England does not expect the UK economy to grow at all this year according to its latest quarterly report. It had previously forecast growth of 2 per cent for 2012 but recent gloomy economic data has led to the growth forecast being revised downwards. The forecast for medium-term growth has also been [...]
Standard Chartered in money-laundering scandal
Standard Chartered has become the latest UK bank to be accused of illegal activity. It has been accused by the New York department of financial services of hiding $250 billion worth of illegal transactions with Iranian banks between 2001 and 2010. The US regulator claims that the bank, which has wholesale banking, corporate finance and [...]
Economy benefiting from PPI refunds
The UK economy is receiving a welcome boost from compensation paid by banks to customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). British banks have already paid out £9 billion after it came to light that they had been routinely mis-selling insurance policies designed to protect repayments on mortgage, loan and credit cards. With payouts [...]
Average house price falls to £161,000
House prices fell in July, to an average of £161,094 across the country, after increasing in the previous two months. Prices fell by 0.6 per cent in July, compared with the previous month, according to the Halifax House Price Index. Average prices are also 0.6 per cent lower compared with July 2011, the Halifax said. [...]
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