Former EU adviser says refugee crisis could boost growth and wages in ailing European economies May 18, 2016 The refugee crisis has sparked widespread political strife throughout Europe, with governments struggling to agree on how to manage the influx. But now a former economic adviser to Jose Manuel Barroso says that the wave of migration could provide a €127bn (£99bn) shot in the arm to the continent’s economy. With 1.3m refugees expected to arrive [...]
Bank of mum and dad facing a funding crisis as children rack up £6,000 in withdrawals May 18, 2016 Parents are dipping into savings, eating up their pay packets and even taking out credit cards to provide assistance to their supposedly financially independent children. Over half of all parents have been tapped up by children over the age of 18 for financial assistance from the “bank of mum and dad”, according to a new [...]
US inflation jumps to three-year high as gas prices soar May 17, 2016 Prices in the United States jumped by their highest amount in more than three years during April, as inflation hit 0.4 per cent, putting more steam behind the chances of further interest rate rises this year. The consumer prices index moved up from 0.1 per cent in March, as energy prices increased considerably during the [...]
Inflation rate falls to 0.3 per cent in April due to cheaper clothes and air fares May 17, 2016 Inflation was running at 0.3 per cent in April, figures out this morning from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown, denting the trend of slow-and-steady price rises since the start of the year. The headline consumer prices index (CPI) rate fell back from 0.5 per cent in March and is now in line with figures [...]
The five job sectors feeling the biggest Brexit squeeze May 17, 2016 Bad news for the City, especially if you work in human resources – new figures indicate that the Brexit spectre and general economic woes are among the causes of a fall in job vacancies in these areas. Vacancies in HR fell 18 per cent in April on a monthly basis, the biggest decline of any of [...]
Job vacancies fall in April due to National Living Wage May 17, 2016 UK companies are hiring less staff due to the National Living Wage, a new report has concluded. The higher minimum wage was introduced on 1 April and means workers aged 25 and above must be paid at least £7.20 an hour, which equates to a pay rise for 1.3 million workers this year, according to [...]
Christine Lagarde is wrong: Here are four economic positives from Brexit May 17, 2016 IMF chief Christine Lagarde said last week she has “not seen anything positive” about Brexit in terms of economics. Even for the head of a global body which we might expect would dislike major political disruption to the international order, and a good friend of the chancellor, this shows a remarkable lack of imagination. Suffering [...]
British banks are chalking out strategies to deal with Brexit fallout, says BoE’s Andrew Bailey May 16, 2016 Bank of England Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey is having “daily” conversations with British banks to chalk out coping mechanisms in the face of a Brexit. Analysts expect that Britain voting to leave the EU is likely to result in sterling losing up to a fifth of its value. "All the banks are looking at this [...]
British Gas owner Centrica purchases ENER-G Cogen for £145m May 16, 2016 British Gas-owner Centrica has announced that it has agreed to buy ENER-G Cogen International from ENER-G Holdings PLC for £145m. ENER-G Cogen is a supplier and operator of combined heat and power products. It has around 1,400 units totalling over 500 megawatts under contract with a growing customer book, Centrica said. The firm operates predominantly [...]
Steel crisis: Small business ministers Anna Soubry slammed for saying steel sector not “totally” free market May 16, 2016 Small business minister Anna Soubry has come under fire from two influential think tanks after she suggested that the UK's steel sector should not be treated as a "totally" free market. Writing in the Sunday Times Magazine, Soubry recalled her early discussions with Prime Minister David Cameron: “Like him I believe the blast furnaces at [...]