The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK economy grew by 1.2% in the April to June period – unrevised from its second estimate last month. While the reading was expected to remain the same – it represented the fastest pace in nine years and took the annual rate of growth to [...]
Employers’ group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has revised its growth forecast for the UK’s economy. It is now predicting the economy will grow by 2% in 2011, not 2.5% as forecast earlier this year. Its downward revision is due to the massive spending cuts, introduced by the Government – deemed necessary in order [...]
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. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today issued a revised reading of first quarter construction output, which could boost economic growth in the first quarter of the year. According to the ONS, construction output fell by 1.1% in the first three months of the year – lower than the 1.6% fall which the ONS [...]
The latest quarterly report released by the White House has revealed the multi-billion dollar stimulus package created between 2.5 and 3.6 million jobs. This was higher than an original estimate of 2.2 million to 2.8 million jobs and suggests the package has been even better for the economy than previously thought. Furthermore, the report suggested [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US rose to an eight-month high in May, by 0.2% on month, suggesting the recovery is still on course. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, slightly exceeded expectations of a 0.1% rise. The [...]
US consumer sentiment rose in June to a level not seen since January 2008. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers’ index rose to 76 in June from 73.6 the previous month. The index has averaged 84.5 over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the index of consumer expectations for six months from now, which [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed the US economy grew by an annualised 2.7% in the January to March period – slightly lower than the 3.2% previously estimated. This figure is the third and final estimate and the downward revision was due to a slower rate of business investment and consumer spending. However, it still [...]
A survey among UK companies has found that confidence has plunged to a level not seen since 1995, as a result of the Government’s tough spending cuts. BDO’s Business Trends index, which covers 11,000 companies from a range of industries, slumped to 97 in May from 103.3 in April – the largest fall since the [...]
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revised its forecasts for the airline industry for this year after forecasting a loss in March. According to the industry body, global airlines will make profits of $2.5 billion (£1.7 billion) in 2010. In March, IATA forecast a loss of around $2.8 billion this year, following a severe [...]
The CIPS/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) has today revealed UK manufacturing activity growth held steady in May, at the 15-year high. The closely-watched CIPS/Markit manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 58 last month. The index has exceeded the crucial 50 mark, which represents growth, since July 2009 and May’s figure just exceeded analysts’ expectations of [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed the US economy grew by an annualised 3% in the January to March period – slightly lower than the 3.2% previously estimated. The figures surprised analysts who had predicted an upward revision to 3.4%. The downward revision was due to a slower rate of business investment, which fell to 3.1% [...]
Destatis, Germany’s statistics office, has today revealed Europe’s largest economy experienced growth of 0.2% in the first three months of 2010. The results beat expectations after analysts had expected the economy to stagnate, as it did in the last three months of 2009. However, Destatis said fourth quarter GDP was revised upwards to 0.2% taking [...]
The European Union’s statistics office has today revealed the euro zone economy grew at a slower rate in the fourth quarter than previous estimates showed. According to official figures, the economy stagnated during the three month period with a rate of 0%, revised down from the previously estimated 0.1%. The latest figures are a further [...]
US consumer confidence recovered in March after taking a dive in February. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board rose to 52.5 in March, up from the 46.4 reading in the previous month. However, despite the rise, the index still remains far away from the 90 points required to show that the world’s [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK economy grew by 0.4% in the October to December period – slightly higher than the 0.1% and the 0.3% previously estimated. Today’s figures represent the third and final figures for growth in the fourth quarter and the ONS is scheduled release its first estimate [...]
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 [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed that the world’s no.1 economy grew at a slower rate in the fourth quarter than previous estimates showed. According to official figures, the US economy grew by an annualised 5.6% between the October and December period, rather than the 5.9% and the 5.7% previously estimated. For the whole of 2009, [...]
After a two-day policy board meeting, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has elected to keep interest rates at 0.1%. Interest rates in the world’s second largest economy have been at the low level since December 2008 in a bid to fight off deflation. It is anticipated that the central Bank will leave rates at the [...]
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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