The Commerce Department has today announced a rise in US retail sales – the second consecutive monthly gain. Retail sales grew by 0.4% in August to a five-month high – better than analysts had expected. Sales were boosted by clothing and fuel. However, car sales fell 0.7% in the month after growing strongly over recent [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has again elected to leave interest rates on hold at 4.5% after a series of aggressive rate hikes since October. It is the third consecutive month in which rates have been at this level but economists say the central bank will only leave rates on hold for the short-term. [...]
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 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 [...]
Industrial production in the euro zone increased for the third month in a row in May. Industrial output rose by 0.9% from April and was 9.4% higher than in May 2009, according to European Union statistics agency Eurostat. However, the figures missed forecasts of a 1.3% monthly rise and an 11.3% annual gain. “May’s euro [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index rose for the third consecutive month in April boosted by the expiration of a Government tax credit. The NAR said the index rose 6% in April – far exceeding the 4.3% rise which many analysts had predicted. However, the index is 22.4% [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US rose for a fifth consecutive month in February, by 0.3%, as widely expected. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, followed a revised 0.4% rise in January. According to the data, consumers increased [...]
According to the Commerce Department, US consumer spending rose faster than expected in January by 0.5% – the fourth consecutive monthly rise. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, was better than expectations of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the data said personal incomes crept up [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of January – the third consecutive month that sales have fallen. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales dived by 11.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 306,000 units – the lowest since [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the ninth consecutive month, as widely expected. Interest rates are expected to remain on hold for the long-term as a result of uneven growth and low inflation. The euro zone as a whole emerged from [...]
Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, saw exports rise for the third consecutive month in November. Exports, on a seasonally adjusted basis, totalled €70.6 billion (£63 billion) during the month – an increase of 1.6% compared with the previous month. The monthly gain was double economists’ forecasts of a 0.8% rise and followed gains of [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index rose to 114.1 in October – its ninth consecutive monthly rise. The index is up 31.8% from this time last year – the biggest year-on-year gain since the series began in 2001. However, many analysts believe that the US housing market is being [...]
Australia, which is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into recession like its counterparts throughout the world, has increased interest rates from 3.5% to 3.75%. It is the third month in a row that interest rates have increased and the move was not unexpected. The Australian economy has benefited from an [...]
Australia, which is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into recession like its counterparts throughout the world, has increased interest rates from 3.25% to 3.5%. It is the second month in a row that interest rates have increased and the move was not unexpected. The Australian economy has benefited from an [...]
There are signs of recovery within the US manufacturing sector after the Federal Reserve reported a rise in industrial production for the month of September. The US central bank said output at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities grew 0.7% during the month – higher than the 0.2% rise expected by analysts and follows the [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the record low of 0.5% for the seventh month in a row. The move was widely expected after a week of mixed economic data, which suggests that the UK may not have exited recession in the third [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the record low of 0.5% for the sixth month in a row. The move was widely expected after a raft of positive economic news this week, suggesting that the UK is beginning to emerge from recession. Meanwhile, [...]
Car insurance, along with new and used cars, will be available at bargain prices over the next month, the AA has revealed. The motor rescue and insurance company said February and March will be the ‘sale of the year’ for car insurance, and ‘the sale of the century’ for new and used cars. March vehicle [...]
Figures from the CBI have revealed that retail sales volumes have fallen for the tenth consecutive month with durable household goods (such as electrical equipment) and clothing retailers reporting the heaviest falls. The organisation said that volumes will continue to fall as consumers tighten their purse strings as recession bites and unemployment rises. According to [...]
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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