The Cabinet Office has today revealed the world’s third largest economy performed worse than originally thought in the April to June period. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 2.1% on an annual basis in the three-month period, compared with an initial estimate of 1.3%. The fall was attributed to a cut back on spending by [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK unemployment rose in the three months to June. The ONS said unemployment rose by 38,000 in the three month period to 2.49 million. The latest figures take the unemployment rate from 7.7% to 7.9%. Economists had expected the rate to stay flat at 7.7% Meanwhile, [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed US housing starts slumped in April – much worse than forecast. Housing starts dived 10.6% in the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000 units, analysts had expected an annual rate of 563,000. In the meantime, applications for building permits, a barometer of future home construction, also [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index fell in January. On a monthly basis, the index fell to 88.9, from a downwardly revised 91.5 in the previous month and was lower than the reading of 89.5 expected by economists. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today reported UK retail sales were hit by the severe wintry weather in December and rising prices. According to the ONS, retail sales during December were down by 0.8% from the previous month – much worse than expected. It was the worst annual performance for any December since [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco today announced like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, grew by just 0.6% in the six week period to 8 January compared with a year earlier. The figures were worse than expected for the Christmas period and the company blamed the heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country during the build up to the [...]
US consumer confidence took a dive in September to 48.5, down from a revised 53.2 in August – the lowest since February 2010. The reading from the closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board was worse than the 52.0 economists had expected. Furthermore, the index is far away from the 90 points required to [...]
Official figures have today revealed the Greek economy contracted more than originally anticipated in the April to June period. The economy, which is still in a deep recession, contracted by 1.8% in the second quarter – rather than the first estimate of 1.5%. The contraction was worse than expected and follows the 0.8% fall in [...]
The US Labor Department has today reported a fall in producer prices of 0.6% in February – the biggest fall since July 2009. The fall, which was worse than expected, was attributed to a 2.9% decline in energy costs. Compared to February 2009, producer prices grew 4.4%, but they slowed from a 4.6% annualised rise [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today reported a sharp fall in business investment, raising concern over the second estimate of fourth quarter GDP figures, which are due to be published tomorrow. According to the ONS, business investment fell by 5.8% in the fourth quarter of 2009 to £27.1 billion – the steepest annual [...]
Leading think tank, the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), has today claimed that the recession and unemployment would have been much worse if Britain had joined the euro. According to the think tank, if Britain had dropped the pound, the unemployment rate would be at 15% (double what it is now) and GDP [...]
In next month’s pre-Budget report, Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to sharply revise his forecast downwards for the UK economy, according to Treasury sources. The Chancellor is expected to say that the UK economy contracted by 4.75% in 2009 – far more than the 3.5% he predicted in March’s Budget. However, while he is expected [...]
Bank of America has today unveiled a $1 billion (£612 million) net loss for the third quarter – worse than the market had expected. The figure compares with a net profit of $3.2 billion in the second quarter and $1.2 billion in the same period a year earlier. The banking giant is the fourth major [...]
Official figures have today revealed that the UK economy shrank by 2.4% in the first three months of 2009 – far worse than expected and the biggest quarterly decline in 51 years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the fall was worse than the earlier estimate of a 1.9% fall – and was worse [...]
A respected former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the global financial crisis is set to get worse and could result in the collapse of a large US bank within months. Professor Kenneth Rogoff, who held the IMF role between 2001 and 2004, claims that the worst is to come [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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