Does snow explain Canada’s job losses? January 10, 2014 Many economists have just put the shock disappointment of the US December jobs report down to the extreme weather the country's been seeing. But, as Sebastien Galy of Societe Generale highlights, Canada's economists are presumably better used to shutdown linked to cold weather. "I remember quite well Hydro Quebec’s electric lines collapsing under the weight [...]
US weather sees jobs additions fall to 2011 low January 10, 2014 A nasty number for the US economy. Nonfarm payrolls have come in at just 74,000 for December, far lower than the 196,000 job additions analysts had expected. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that weather had been a major factor in the low payrolls number. Those unable to work because of the bad conditions stood [...]
As retailers suffer poor Christmas sales – is a tech revolution their only hope? January 10, 2014 In the wake of poorer than expected Christmas trading results, a veteran of the retail trade is warning that if businesses fail to innovate, they will continue to face challenges getting customers to walk through their doors. Chief executive of mobile payment solutions specialist Powa Technologies, Dan Wagner, says that innovation is key for retailers [...]
Is QE finally on the way for the Eurozone? January 10, 2014 A day after the European Central Bank (ECB) did what everyone thought it would do and didn't cut interest rates, Capital Economics thinks president Draghi knows he needs to act sooner rather than later, and that there's a good chance he will. "We think the ECB has more work to do in 2014", says [...]
Here’s a novel new way to estimate US jobs figures January 10, 2014 We can't say this isn't an innovative way to estimate nonfarm payrolls. Waiting for the cat to come in from the garden for this month's US non-farm payroll predictions #NFP pic.twitter.com/icS9Ji60cV — Craig Drake (@csdrake) January 10, 2014 Consensus estimates say that the US will have added 196,000 jobs in December. We'll add Bob [...]
Young Britons hit hardest by housing crisis January 10, 2014 PR consultancy MRM has released a report investigating the attitudes of "Generation Austerity," aged 20-29. Their results set today's young people radically apart from the rest of the population, in their attitudes to personal finance. When asked what is the most important thing for you to save for right now, 37 per cent of generation [...]
Here’s why the market would be really surprised by a US jobs surprise January 10, 2014 As we look ahead to the day's big event – US labour market data – one analyst thinks the event is becoming boring. Kit Juckes of Societe Generale says that the volatility of the monthly nonfarm payrolls released, measured by a rolling 36-month standard deviation, is at its lowest level since January 1986. Analysts are [...]
The energy helping Big Oil lead the international charge January 10, 2014 With independent oil companies dominating in the US, Big Oil (the biggest five or six global oil companies) is now "leading the international charge", becoming "more and more relevant to mainstream investors", says investment bank JP Morgan. And it's unconventional energy that's helping Big Oil lock down the most material opportunities, set to take up [...]
UK’s manufacturing recovery stutters in November January 10, 2014 Manufacturing's revival has lost some momentum. While analysts had expected to see production expand for the third consecutive month, new figures from the Office for National Statistics show that it was flat in November. Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg, says that the "hard data is not keeping pace with the red hot business [...]
JP Morgan think a lack of frack is hurting European chemicals January 10, 2014 JP Morgan has warned that the rise of shale gas could prove to be a "structural negative" for the European chemicals industry. JP Morgan remains negative on the European chemical sector citing BASF, Solvay, Lanxess (all under weight) as its least preferred options. However, US chemical producers are booming due to a sharp fall in [...]