US leading economic indicator improves more than expected August 22, 2013 The Conference Board’s leading indicator rose by 0.6 per cent month-on-month in July, beating expectations. This follows no change in June and a 0.3 per cent increase in May. Analysts had expected to see an increase of 0.5 per cent (release). The leading indicator measures future trends of overall economic activity, taking into account employment, [...]
Government statisticians will estimate number of zero hour contracts August 22, 2013 After growing politicial opposition to zero hours contracts, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that it will now be providing an estimate of the number employed on them. From autumn 2013, one of ONS’s large-scale monthly business surveys will include some questions on zero-hours contracts so as to obtain robust data directly from [...]
US house prices grow again in June August 22, 2013 US house prices rose by more than expected in July, according to official data (release). The Federal Reserve’s housing price index rose by 0.7 per cent in July compared to the month before, following a revised 0.8 per cent increase in the month to June. Analysts had expected to see a bigger slowdown to 0.6 [...]
US manufacturing order growth hits a seven month high August 22, 2013 US manufacturing order growth has hit a seven month high in Augustaccording to a Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) flash estimate. Up from 53.7 to 53.9, ahead of an estimate of an increase to 53.8. Commenting on the flash PMI data, Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said: The U.S. manufacturing sector saw only modest [...]
Italian opposition leader says president should step down and early elections called August 22, 2013 The leader of Italy's Five-Star opposition movement Beppe Grillo has called for Italian president Giorgio Napolitano to resign as soon as possible, and said early elections should be held. Writing on his blog, Grillo said that the current government has caused "the failure of this country". There is the possibility of new elections, to turn [...]
US jobless claims see lowest four week average since November 2007 August 22, 2013 Weekly US jobless numbers have seen initial jobless claims rise from 323,000 (revised from 320,000) to 336,000, while analysts had estimated a smaller increase to 322,000. Continuing jobless claims rose to 2,999m from 2.969m, despite an estimated fall to 2.963m.
John Lewis to pay £40m to compensate underpaid staff August 22, 2013 John Lewis has admitted it made a mistake in the payment of staff working on Sundays and bank holidays under the Working Time Regulations, which will cost them around £40m in repayments and related expenses. The retailer said a recent review of holiday pay policy revealed staff who receive certain additions to pay – like [...]
Slow store traffic weighs on Abercrombie profits August 22, 2013 Teen fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has reported a worse-than-expected ten per cent drop in comparable sales in the second quarter. The company said less people visiting stores and a lack of interest in its women’s clothing was behind the fall (release). For the year to date, comparable sales are down by 12 per cent. [...]
Yahoo overtakes Google as most viewed website – now it just needs to make money from it August 22, 2013 Yahoo has overtaken Google as the site with the most traffic in the US, according to statistics from comScore. Unique visitors to Yahoo rose to 196.6m in July – up 21 per cent from the year before. Unique visitors to Google sites (including YouTube) increased by less than one per cent to 192.3m. Microsoft sites [...]
Rabobank reports drop in profits after “difficult first half” August 22, 2013 Dutch lender Rabobank has reported a 14 per cent drop in net profit in the first half of the year following slow growth in its home market and the provision for settlements with regulators over alleged interest rate manipulation (release). Net profit fell to €1.112bn (£950m) in the first six months of the year from [...]