Official figures today showed the Japanese economy continues to battle with deflation. Figures revealed Japanese core consumer prices fell 0.6% in October compared with a year ago – representing the 20th consecutive monthly decline that the economy has been in deflation. Last month, the Bank of Japan cut interest rates to almost zero. The move [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed a slump in the number of homes sold in October in the UK. According to HMRC, 79,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month, a fall of 11% on an annual basis. While it was 1,000 higher from September’s figure, it is evident [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK economy grew by 0.8% in the July to September period – unrevised from its initial estimate last month. Today’s estimate is the second reading, a third and final estimate will be available next month. The ONS also confirmed that the economy grew by 2.8% [...]
Barratt Developments is the latest housebuilder to report a slowdown in the housing market as buyer demand continues to fall. The group’s chief executive, Mark Clare, said the traditional autumn period has been “weaker than anticipated”. Government spending cuts, and the uncertainty surrounding the economy, have also had a major impact as buyers adopt a [...]
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey today said it had experienced a homebuyer slowdown, as a result of the Government’s spending cuts, which has deterred potential buyers. Its comments echo those of Persimmon who yesterday said there was little evidence of the traditional autumn period which usually sees families flock to new housing developments as the school summer [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a major fall in asking prices in November – as vendors cut their prices amid desperation to sell their property before the Christmas slowdown. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell 3.2% in the month – the biggest drop since December 2007. The [...]
Official figures today showed Italian economic growth slowed in the July to September period. Italy’s statistics office, Istat, said the economy expanded by 0.2% in the third quarter, slowing from the 0.5% growth recorded in the second quarter. The growth rate was half the 0.4% expected by analysts. On an annual basis, meanwhile, the economy [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK manufacturing output grew by 0.3% in August compared with July – the highest gain since November 2008. Not only was this better than the 0.2% rise expected by analysts, it follows the revised 0.4% gain in July. Out of 13 categories of manufacturing, nine grew [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will today issue its final reading for UK quarter two economic growth. However, there is expected to be no revision to 1.2% growth for the April to June period. Growth in the second quarter exceeded many expectations but growth in the second half of the year is expected to [...]
Influential think tank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has today said the global economic recovery is slowing faster and has therefore revised its growth forecast downwards for the G7 leading economies. However, the think tank has said a return to recession is unlikely but “great uncertainty” remains. It has therefore slightly revised [...]
The Bank of Canada has elected to raise interest rates for the third time in as many months, despite a slowdown in economic growth. The Bank raised rates from 0.75% to 1% but explained that further rate hikes would need to be carefully considered because of an uncertain outlook. The rise comes just a week [...]
A report by Statistics Canada has today revealed the economy slowed, due to a slowdown in the housing market. The Statistics Canada leading economic indicator index (a monthly gauge of where the economy appears headed in the coming months) eased to 0.4% in July, following a rise of 0.7% in June. The slowdown in growth [...]
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 [...]
There is further evidence today that China’s economy is cooling after two official independent surveys revealed a slowdown in manufacturing activity. Firstly, the HSBC China Manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), fell to 49.4 in July from 50.4 in June. As a result, manufacturing contracted for the first time in 16 months as any reading below [...]
It appears the world’s third largest economy is cooling after official figures revealed Chinese annual GDP slowed from 11.9% in the first quarter to 10.3% in the March to June period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today. The reading was marginally lower than the 10.5% expected by analysts. China’s economy has been growing [...]
Official figures from the US Labor Department revealed today that 651,000 jobs were lost in February in the US, taking the jobless rate 8.1% – the highest level since December 1983. Meanwhile, the organisation adjusted its January figures upwards to 655,000, while December’s losses were revised to 681,000 – the biggest single monthly decline since [...]
The US Federal Reserve’s Chairman, Ben Bernanke, is suggesting that the US needs another cash boost to encourage spending and promote consumer confidence. The suggestion comes after the country recently announced a $700 billion (£380 billion) package to rescue the country’s ailing banking industry. Mr Bernanke believes further Government spending may be required after he [...]
More evidence of consumers tightening their purse strings is unveiled today after figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that car sales plummeted 21% in September compared with last year. September is a major month for car dealers, due to the introduction of new registration plates in August. However, in the [...]
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Chancellor Alistair Darling said the UK is facing the worst economic downturn in 60 years and it will be ‘profound and long lasting’. Mr Darling’s stark warning comes as the Nationwide revealed that the average house price has fallen by 10.5% over the last year – this represents [...]
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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