US house prices soar by over 13 per cent in just a year November 26, 2013 US house prices are climbing fast – up 13.3 per cent in the year to September according to the S&P/Case Shiller index. That's well above the 13 per cent increase that analysts had been expecting. On this side of the pond, house prices increases are more moderate – at least at the national level. They [...]
Unions and Royal Mail extend deadline for talks November 26, 2013 Recently privatised Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have extended the deadline for an agreement on workers pay and conditions to 3 December. The parties said there had been progress in reaching a deal on pensions and working conditions. Dave Ward, deputy secretary general of the CWU, said: We are confident that negotiations [...]
US building permits jump to their highest level in almost 5.5 years – but markets don’t budge November 26, 2013 Construction in the US is soaring, with permits at their highest levels in nearly five-and-a-half years. Permits rose 6.2 per cent to an annualised pace of 1.03m in October. Analysts had expected an increase to just 0.93m. Paul Diggle of Capital Economics attributed the jump to the strong and often volatile multi-family sector, but said [...]
French downgrade was unjustified says IMF chief economist November 26, 2013 The IMF's chief economist, Olivier Blanchard has said that France's recent credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's (S&P) was unjustified. Speaking to German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Mr Blanchard, said: Even if France hasn't fully recovered yet, I don't see any substantial risk — or even an increased risk — that it won't be able to [...]
Tiffany’s sparkling results see jeweller raise forecast again November 26, 2013 Tiffany & Co saw third quarter net earnings surge 50 per cent to $95m (£58.7m), beating the Wall Street prediction of $74.9m (£46.3m) and leading to the company raising its annual earnings forecast for the second time in three months. The world's second-largest jeweller was boosted by growing sales in Asia, where they soared 27 per [...]
Irish unemployment falls to lowest point since 2009 November 26, 2013 Ireland's unemployment rate has fallen to a four year low, according to the Central Statistics Office. The seasonally adjusted rate fell from 13.6 per cent in the second quarter, to 12.8 per cent in the third quarter. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Joan Burton, said: More than 1,000 people a week are returning to [...]
Advertising giants appeal to EU regulators to grant merger November 26, 2013 Advertising companies Omnicom and Publicis have urged European Union (EU) regulators to approve their $31bn (£22bn) merger. Omnicom and Publicis are the world's second and third largest advertising firms respectively, as such they will need to clear the hurdles of EU antitrust laws before proceeding with the deal. The merger agreed in July has been [...]
City A.M. editor scoops Business Commentator of the Year award November 26, 2013 City A.M. editor Allister Heath has been named Business Commentator of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence 2013 Comment Awards. Heath said at the awards breakfast this morning: "I dedicate this award to all my staff at City A.M. They work very hard and are great journalists. I also wish to thank the owners of [...]
Independent Scotland would keep the pound and renationalise Royal Mail November 26, 2013 The Scottish government has unveiled its blueprint for independence, ahead of the Scottish referendum in 10 months time. The government's 649-page, 170,000-word White Paper confirmed its plans to keep sterling as Scotland's currency, reduce corporation tax by three per cent and to stop the roll-out of welfare reforms. Independence would also see Trident got rid [...]
Carney says ONS has a lot of work to do in order to bring data quality up to international standards November 26, 2013 In a week that's seen the Office for National Statistics (ONS) pressed to reconsider how it releases data – its systems are too slow to release information in a timely fashion – Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that the ONS has a lot of work to do. Speaking before the Treasury Select [...]