The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK unemployment dipped in the three months to June. According to the ONS, the number of people unemployed in the UK fell to 2.457 million. The ONS said the jobless total dived by 49,000 in the three month period – representing the biggest quarterly drop since [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade gap narrowed in June, due to a surge in exports. According to the ONS, exports of goods to non-EU countries were at an all-time high at £10.750 billion, while exports to the rest of the world were the highest in almost two years [...]
Germany’s federal statistics office has today reported exports grew 3.8% in June compared with May. On an annual basis, exports were 29% higher and has fuelled hopes that the euro zone’s largest economy grew faster in the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, imports also rose in June, by 1.9% compared with the previous month. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output fell unexpectedly in June. According to the ONS, output fell 0.5% on the month against forecasts of a 0.2% rise. However, the fall was attributed to a 6% decline in oil and gas output. Following the announcement, the pound lost fell half a cent [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US remained flat in June. Households in the US continue to be squeezed amid higher unemployment. Consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, was unchanged from May. Meanwhile, incomes failed to increase for the first time since [...]
New figures from the Land Registry show house prices in England and Wales back to summer 2006 levels, having risen by 0.1% in June, compared with May. Last month, the typical home sported an annual gain of 8.4%, taking the average house price to £166,072. All ten regions of England and Wales experienced annual rises, [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a rise in sales of new homes in the US for the month of June. However, the rate of sales was the second slowest since records began in 1963. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales rose to an annual rate of 330,000 units from a revised [...]
The finance ministry has today revealed Japanese exports continued to rise in June, albeit at a slower pace. Exports grew 27.7% to 5.87 trillion yen in June – the seventh straight monthly rise. However, not only did the figure fall short of expectations of a 23.1% rise, it was also below May’s increase of 32.1%. [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a further fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of June – the second consecutive monthly fall. The industry body said sales fell 5% in June to an annual rate of 5.37 million units. While the figure is 9.8% higher [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced a rise in UK retail sales for the month of June – exceeding market forecasts. According to the ONS, the value of UK retail sales grew 0.7% in June compared with May, boosted by sales of electrical goods, such as televisions for the World Cup. Excluding [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a sharp rise in UK car production for the month of June. Car production surged 28.6% against the same month a year ago, while production for the first half of 2010 is 55% higher than the same period last year, The SMMT [...]
In its latest Trends in Lending report, the Bank of England has revealed that approvals for house purchase lending decreased slightly in June, compared to a month earlier. At the same time, the total amount loaned for house purchases remained unchanged and a little higher than at the start of the year. Looking forward, most [...]
New figures from HM Revenue & Customs show the number of homes sold in the UK rising to 86,000 in June. Completed transactions on properties worth over £40,000 increased by an annual 15%, having leapt 21% on May. The summer bounce also took volumes for the first six months of the year up 21% on [...]
Official data from the Labor Department has today revealed that US consumer prices fell for the third consecutive month in June, by 0.1% on a monthly basis. The fall was attributed to declines in energy prices, which were down 2.9%, food prices remained flat. The fall in June followed declines of 0.1% and 0.2% in [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed public sector borrowing totalled £14.5 billion in June. While the figure was slightly lower than the £14.7 billion seen in June last year, it surprised economists who expected the figure to be around £13.1 billion. Overall, Government debt stands at £926.9 billion – the equivalent to [...]
Gross mortgage lending increased in June, to an estimated £13.1 billion, with the total up 15% on a month earlier and 7% year-on-year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). During the second quarter of the year lending stood at around £35 billion, having risen 17% compared with the previous three months and showing [...]
The Commerce Department today announced retail sales fell by 0.5% in June – the second consecutive monthly fall after a downwardly revised 1.1% fall in May. Sales were hit by a decline in sales of petrol and cars and were slightly worse than the 0.2% fall expected by analysts. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, sales [...]
Hometrack has reported that new buyer registrations virtually ground to a halt in June, increasing by just 0.1%. Six out of ten UK regions saw a decline, with London posting the largest fall at minus 0.9%. According to the housing intelligence firm, growth in demand has been slowing for the last four months as the [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a further fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of June. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged from 66 in May to 63 in June – the lowest level for a year, due to ongoing economic uncertainty. However, the Nationwide highlights that the [...]
In its June Housing Market Survey, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports that buyer enquiries fell for only the second time since the latter part of 2008. At the same time, new instructions rose to their highest level for three years, weakening optimism over future house price growth as the average stock on [...]
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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