Catastrophe losses fell in 2012 January 3, 2013 NATURAL disasters forced insurers to pay out just $65bn last year, down from $119bn in 2011, according to figures out yesterday. Research by Munich Re shows almost all catastrophe losses related to events in the US, with Hurricane Sandy responsible for $25bn of the total sum. Worldwide losses from natural catastrophes – including those not covered [...]
Capital defies gloomy outlook on house prices January 3, 2013 HOUSE PRICES sunk back into decline in the final month of 2012, capping off a gloomy year, according to data out yesterday. Prices edged down 0.1 per cent on average across the country in December, Nationwide said, contributing to an overall decline of one per cent over the year. This yearly fall came despite four individual monthly [...]
London fuels million-pound property boom January 3, 2013 TENS OF thousands more people became property millionaires in 2012, driven by healthy growth in London house prices. The number of properties worth £1m climbed 47,024 over 2012, Zoopla.co.uk said yesterday, to hit 300,142 – a rise of 19 per cent in just a year. Of this total, some 182,583 – or 64 per cent – are [...]
Bank says it is easier for firms to obtain credit January 3, 2013 CORPORATE and household credit conditions eased significantly over the last three months of 2012, according to data from the Bank of England. Almost 30 per cent of lenders told the Bank that their lending conditions for firms had eased in the past three months, swinging into the positive after three quarters of negative figures. A net [...]
Construction hits 6-month low in December as slump deepens January 3, 2013 THE slump in the UK construction industry deepened in December, with activity dropping even further. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the construction industry fell to a six-month low of 48.7 in December, from 49.3 in November, according to data released yesterday by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchase & Supply. Since this is further below the crucial [...]
UK labour productivity slides January 3, 2013 Productivity in the British workforce continued to slide in the third quarter of 2012, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Output per hour edged down 0.2 per cent over the quarter, making it the fifth successive quarter of decline. While productivity per worker and productivity per job both increased in the [...]
German unemployment rises January 3, 2013 The number of unemployed Germans rose in December, remaining close to post-unification lows. Unemployment climbed 3,000 to 2.942m in December, according to data from the Federal Labour Agency. The rise was lower than the 10,000 forecast by analysts, who expected the ongoing Eurozone crisis to have more of an impact. Separate data from Destatis showed [...]
Ageing Brits aim for longer career January 3, 2013 Passing the retirement age does not necessarily mean retiring, according to data released by Aviva this morning. Almost one in four 65-74 year olds continue to earn a wage, the insurance firm said, up from 18 per cent in 2010, a hopeful statistic for a country with a rapidly-ageing population. And younger cohorts seem to [...]
Peppa Pig firm gets go-ahead for movie deal January 3, 2013 THE INDEPENDENT film company behind Peppa Pig and the Twilight films will close its purchase of movie distributor Alliance Films imminently, after the London-listed company won approval from Canadian competition authorities. Entertainment One is likely to complete the C$225m (£141.2m) deal next week, sources close to the deal said. The company said yesterday that it [...]
Barnes & Noble’s Nook has weaker Christmas period January 3, 2013 US book retailer Barnes & Noble saw its fledgling Nook ereader unit falter over the Christmas season, as it sold fewer devices than in the same period last year, and saw growth in sales of digital books and magazines fall. The company, which launched its range of ereaders and tablets in the UK in time [...]