Jump in cost of public sector November 3, 2009 COSTS in the public sector have soared at a much faster rate than those in the private sector since 1997, according to official statistics released yesterday. The report confirms fears that much of the sharp rise in public spending over the past decade has been gobbled up by higher wages and other costs, rather than [...]
Christmas retail sales will bounce back, says report November 3, 2009 BRITISH retail sales will rise 1.9 per cent over Christmas, bouncing back from last year’s decline, but below the increases of the previous nine years, according to research published yesterday. The Centre for Retail Research forecast retail sales would rise £832m to £44.7bn in the last six weeks of 2009. That compares with a £27m [...]
EU: UK GDP to beat eurozone for two years November 3, 2009 EUROPE’S economy will rebound next year from a deep slump and accelerate in 2011, the European Commission said yesterday, paving the way for major budget deficit cuts across the 27-nation bloc from 2011 at the latest. Brussels cut its forecast for the UK economy in 2009 but said that growth in 2010 and 2011 would [...]
House price recovery continues but will soon begin to slow, says Halifax November 3, 2009 BRITISH house prices rose 1.2 per cent in October, leaving the annual decline at its smallest in one-and-a-half years as a lack of supply and higher demand buoyed prices, mortgage lender Halifax said yesterday. House prices were 1.5 per cent down in October compared with a year ago, the smallest annual fall since March 2008. [...]
Struggling construction sector sees accelerated rate of decline in activity November 3, 2009 CONSTRUCTION activity in the UK fell at an accelerated rate in October for the first time in five months, according to the leading CIPS/Markit construction purchasing managers’ index yesterday. The headline index showed a fall to 46.2 from 46.7 in September, well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction. Activity by construction firms [...]
Lift in staff demand, says KPMG November 3, 2009 The UK jobs market looks healthier today than at any time in the last two years, according to KPMG’s latest report on jobs. According to the report, the growth of permanent and temporary staff appointments accelerated to two-year and sixteen-month highs respectively in October, while overall vacancies increased for the first time in seventeen months. [...]
Consumer confidence unchanged November 3, 2009 The Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index remained unchanged in October, staying level at 72 points, data from Nationwide will show today. The news comes a day after the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said consumer confidence was at its highest level for 18 months. Nationwide said that there were some small adjustments to consumers’ perceptions of current [...]
London firms ready for growth November 3, 2009 More than two-thirds of London businesses are preparing for growth, despite expecting the effects of the downturn to last until late 2010 or early 2011, a new survey will say today. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Enterprise Survey will show that 68 per cent of businesses are planning to grow [...]
JPMorgan reorganises teams November 3, 2009 JPMORGAN Chase’s recently named investment bank head Jes Staley is putting his stamp on the unit with a reorganisation that combines its various fixed income businesses under two co-heads, according to an internal memo. The move brings the bank, which last month reported a bumper $3.6bn (£2.2bn) third-quarter profit – largely driven by its fixed [...]
Swiss Re wows investors with third quarter profits November 3, 2009 SWISS Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, saw its stocks rise the most in over three months yesterday, after it beat analyst expectations in its third-quarter profit. Net income hit SFr334m (£199m) as property and casual earnings were boosted by fewer catastrophe claims. In its previous year, the Zurich-based company made a SFr304m loss, and analysts [...]
