The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade deficit widened in July to a record high, as imports soared and exports fell. According to the ONS, the goods trade gap widened to £8.667 billion in July, up from £7.532 billion the previous month. The deficit was the biggest since the series [...]
The Commerce Department today announced the US trade deficit widened in June to $49.90 billion (£31.8 billion) – the highest level in 20 months and much higher than the $42.2 billion most economists had expected. According to the Commerce Department, the further widening in the trade deficit was primarily due to rising imports from China [...]
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 [...]
The Commerce Department today announced the US trade deficit widened in May to $42.3 billion (£28 billion) – an 18-month high. Most economists had expected the deficit to fall to $39.4 billion. The trade gap for goods and services grew 4.8% from $40.3 billion in April, the Commerce Department said. The figures showed that imports [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade gap widened more than anticipated in May. According to the ONS, exports of goods grew 0.2% compared with April to £21.5 billion, while imports also grew on the month, by 2.4% to £29.5 billion. The ONS said the UK’s goods trade deficit with [...]
The Commerce Department today announced the US trade deficit widened to $40.3 billion (£27.5 billion) in April – a 16-month high. The deficit was slightly lower than the $41.3 billion the market had forecast. According to official figures, imports totalled $189.1 billion – down 0.4% on the previous month. Meanwhile, exports were worth $148.8 billion [...]
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) revealed that the UK’s trade deficit widened to £7.2 billion in September from a deficit of £6.1 billion the previous month and well above analyst expectations of a £6.1 billion deficit. The rise was attributed to a rise in car imports as the cash for bangers scheme helped foreign [...]
Official figures from Eurostat have revealed a 5.8% fall in exports in August in the euro zone compared with July. However, imports fell by a more modest 1.3%, suggesting a slump in global and internal demand and raises fears about a recovery in the region. As exports fell by more than imports, the euro zone [...]
The Dow Jones index rose today on the back of positive economic data and followed gains seen over the last week. In seven out of the last eight days, the Dow Jones has risen. By mid-session in New York, the index gained 0.6% to 9,737.3 points with European shares rising in response. London’s FTSE 100 [...]
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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