Germany’s Statistics Office has revealed a big fall in retail sales for the month of September – the sharpest monthly decline since March 2008. The figures surprised analysts who had expected an increase. Sales fell 2.3% in the month compared with August, confounding forecasts for a 0.4% rise. The figures come as the German economy, [...]
Chinese economic growth slowed in the July to September period, to 9.6%, official figures showed today. The world’s third largest economy has experienced sensational growth over recent times, expanding by 11.9% in the first quarter and 10.3% in the March to June period, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). There were [...]
The People’s Bank of China has today surprised markets after hiking interest rates – the first such move since 2007. The Bank has increased the one-year yuan lending rate from 5.31% to 5.56%, and the one-year yuan deposit rate to 2.5% from 2.25%. The move comes in a bid to fight stubborn inflation, as well [...]
The Bank of Korea (BoK) has today opted to leave interest rates on hold at 2.25% – for the third consecutive month. The decision surprised many economists who had expected rates to be lifted to 2.5%. The central bank left interest rates at the record low 2% for 17 months following the global economic downturn [...]
Japanese core private-sector machinery orders – a highly volatile series seen as an indicator of corporate spending – surged 10.1% in August – confounding expectations of a 4.5% fall. The increase in orders represented the third consecutive monthly rise, according to the Cabinet Office, and follows June’s 1.6% increase and July’s 8.8% growth. The surprise [...]
The Bank of Japan has today cut interest rates to almost zero, in a bid to boost the economy and continue its battle deflation. Last week, figures revealed Japanese core consumer prices fell 1.0% in August compared with a year ago – representing the 18th consecutive monthly decline that the world’s no.2 economy has been [...]
Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today revealed the economy contracted by 1.2% in the April to June period – surprising economists who had forecast an expansion. Furthermore, the CSO revised first quarter growth figures down from 2.7% to 2.2%. Many analysts believed the economy to be on the road to recovery but today’s figures [...]
Figures today revealed Australia’s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 5.3% in July from 5.1% in June. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 24,600 more people were out of work surprising analysts who had expected no change. However, experts said the surprise rise may partly be due to revised population figures, which showed there were [...]
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 [...]
Figures today revealed a surprise rise in Japan’s unemployment rate. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said unemployment edged higher from 5.1% in April to 5.2% in May. Analysts had expected a fall to 5%. However, the availability of jobs in the world’s second largest economy improved. The jobs-to-applicants ratio grew from 0.48 in [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed a record fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of May. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales fell by 32.7% on year to an all-time low of 300,000 units – the lowest since records commenced in 1963. However, a fall was expected [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a surprise drop in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of May, despite the Government tax credit designed to entice homebuyers. The industry body said sales fell 2.2% in May to an annual rate of 5.66 million units, up from a [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in April, raising fears about the strength of the economic recovery. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in April compared with March – far below analysts expectations of a 0.5% rise and follows a rise of 2.2% in March. The [...]
Official data has today revealed that US consumer prices fell in April by 0.1% on a monthly basis – the first decline in 13 months. The fall was attributed to declines in petrol, housing, car and clothing prices according to the Labor Department. Petrol prices fell by 2.4%, clothing costs fell 0.7%, while food costs [...]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets on Friday by raising its key lending and borrowing rates by 25 basis points, in order to combat rising inflation. The hike sparked fears that other central banks in Asia may increase their efforts to fight inflation, which sent shares lower throughout Asia today. Hong Kong lost [...]
The Commerce Department today announced a fall in US imports and exports, resulting in an unexpected fall in the trade deficit. According to official figures, exports in January dipped 0.3% to $142.7 billion, with less machinery, agricultural products and civilian aircraft sold. Meanwhile, imports slumped 1.7% in the world’s largest economy, to $180 billion, partly [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today revealed UK industrial output unexpectedly fell in January – primarily due to the cold weather during the month. According to the ONS, output fell by 0.4% in January compared with the previous month and represented the largest monthly fall since August. Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise. However, [...]
The US Federal Reserve stunned markets by raising its discount rate (the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans) by 25bps to 0.75%. The news sent the pound down to its lowest level against the US dollar in nine months, while Asian equity markets reacted cautiously as they digested the news. Furthermore, the euro [...]
The Labor Department has today revealed that the US unemployment rate fell from 10% in December to 9.7% in January – its lowest level in five months. According to the Labor Department, employers cut 20,000 jobs last month – many analysts had predicted the economy to add jobs. US President Barack Obama has pledged to [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has stunned the markets by electing to keep interest rates on hold at 3.75%. The RBA has increased interest rates three times since October and many analysts said interest rates could hit 4.25% in the short-term. Australia is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into [...]
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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