Crisis pushes jobless total to new peak September 16, 2009 THE percentage of UK adults who are unemployed has climbed to its highest level since 1996, reaching 7.9 per cent as the economic crisis continues to wreak havoc in the job market. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless total rose by 210,000 in the three months to the end of July, to [...]
Blanchflower spat with King heats up September 16, 2009 DAVID Blanchflower, the former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member who accused Mervyn King earlier this week of running the central bank with an “iron fist”, claimed yesterday that he was merely speaking out in the public interest. Blanchflower was responding to comments from King made during an evidence session at the Treasury [...]
US industrial output rises again September 16, 2009 US industrial production rose for a second straight month in August, reinforcing views the recession had ended, while a spike in petrol costs pushed up USinflation. A Federal Reserve report said industrial production increased 0.8 per cent after gaining one per cent in July. The data came a day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said [...]
Weir loses its chief to Australia September 16, 2009 Engineering firm Weir Group yesterday said its finance director Keith Cochrane will replace outgoing chief executive Mark Selway on 2 November. Selway is stepping down to take up a new job in his native Australia. After eight years at Weir, Selway will become chief executive of Boral, Australia’s largest building and construction materials supplier. Weir’s [...]
Minister tells BBC to halt its expansion September 16, 2009 CULTURE Secretary Ben Bradshaw yesterday hit out at the BBC, saying its dramatic expansion needed to be stopped and its governing body should be reformed. Speaking at the Royal Television Society’s biennial conference in Cambridge, Bradshaw said the £5bn state-funded broadcaster had “probably reached the limits of expansion” and suggested its “multimedia empire” should be [...]
Bank of New York Mellon settles $22.5bn Russia case September 16, 2009 RUSSIA expects to get costs of at least $14m (£8.5m) in an out-of-court settlement of a $22.5bn lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon, finance minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday. The deal should bring to an end Russia’s more than two-year quest for compensation from the bank over alleged laundering of $7bn from Russia in [...]
FSA and SECjoin forces to boost hedge fund rules September 16, 2009 THE TOP financial regulators in the UK and US, Hector Sants and Mary Schapiro, have joined forces to bring in new standardised hedge fund reporting rules between the nations. Sants, chief executive of the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Schapiro, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said in a joint statement [...]
THE ONLY WAY IS UP September 16, 2009 THE FTSE 100 hit its highest closing level in a year yesterday, as investors remained bullish about the pace of global recovery and appetite for risky assets showed no sign of diminishing. The index, led by banks and miners closed up 82 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,124.13 – its highest close since late [...]
Blockbuster to shut 960 stores September 16, 2009 Movie rental giant Blockbuster plans to close up to 960 stores by the end of next year, the company said. In a regulatory filing yesterday it said that along with the conversion of certain stores to bigger outlets, and lease mitigation or termination efforts, total store closures would be in the range of 1,335 to [...]
Ford on track in $15bn cost cut September 16, 2009 Ford is on track to have cut structural costs by up to $15bn (£9.1bn) since 2005, but has room to make further reductions, the carmaker’s chief financial officer said yesterday. Ford, which remains on track to reach at least break-even in 2011, has focused in its cost-cutting on producing higher volume global platforms to take [...]