US economic growth beats expectations but Fed still set to cut rates October 30, 2019 US economic growth slowed in the third quarter but beat expectations as consumer spending and higher exports offset a fall in business investment. Read more: S&P 500 hits all-time high on trade and Fed optimism The US economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent between July and September, the US Commerce Department [...]
Two Sainsbury’s executives to step down in boardroom shake up October 29, 2019 The new chairman of Sainsbury’s is planning a major boardroom reshuffle as the UK’s third-biggest supermarket tries to move on from the collapse of its planned £15bn merger with Asda. Read more: Sainsbury’s heir to the thrown quits to join media powerhouse WPP Google’s Europe operations chief Matt Brittin and ex-Marks and Spencer executive Jean [...]
Pound climbs on General Election news but traders foresee rocky ride October 29, 2019 The pound jumped today after it became clear the Labour party would back a December General Election, but it has since settled back down as traders steeled themselves for a volatile six weeks. Read more: Labour to back PM’s call for December General Election Sterling has had an extremely rocky few months. It hit a [...]
Number in low-paid jobs hits record low but wages suffer October 29, 2019 The proportion of people in low-paid jobs fell to its lowest level on record last year, official figures showed today, thanks in large part to a rising minimum wage. Read more: UK women earn £263,000 less than men over working lives Nonetheless, when adjusted for inflation median pay was almost three per cent lower than [...]
Spending watchdog to publish forecasts despite scrapping of Budget October 29, 2019 The UK’s tax and spending watchdog has said it will publish an updated version of its March fiscal forecasts next month, despite chancellor Sajid Javid cancelling his Budget due to the Brexit extension. Read more: Chancellor Sajid Javid admits 31 October Brexit deadline ‘can’t be met’ The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also said that [...]
UK spending rules should focus on investments rather than debt, economists say October 29, 2019 The UK needs new rules on taxing and spending in order to adequately tackle the major economic challenges the country looks set to face over the next decade, a new report has said. Read more: Hey, big spender: IFS boss Paul Johnson on the end of economic orthodoxy Rather than simply focusing on public debt [...]
Consumers choose challenger banks due to poor service on high street October 29, 2019 Poor customer service at high street banks is causing consumers to turn to challengers such as Monzo in droves, a new report has found. Read more: Monzo smashes past £2bn valuation in fresh funding round Customers are particularly peeved about the difficulty of mortgage applications and the resolution of problems, according to the report from [...]
Shop Direct could fail unless £150m is found, auditor warns October 28, 2019 Shop Direct, the UK retail group owned by the Barclay brothers, could collapse unless it finds £150m to cover the costs of payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation, its auditor has warned. Read more: Media veteran David Montgomery weighing up Telegraph bid The Littlewoods.com and Very.co.uk owner last week revealed it had seen higher-than-expected demand for [...]
Media veteran David Montgomery weighing up Telegraph bid October 28, 2019 Press executive and former News of the World editor David Mongtomery has expressed an interest to the owners of the Telegraph about buying the ailing newspaper business, which is reportedly up for sale. Read more: ‘Structural decline’: Telegraph group suffers profit slump Montgomery is also a former chief executive of the Mirror Group. He last [...]
S&P 500 hits all-time high on trade and Fed optimism October 28, 2019 The US’s benchmark S&P 500 stock index hit an all-time high today as investors were cheered by a possible breakthrough in the US-China trade negotiations and with the Federal Reserve likely to cut interest rates on Wednesday. Read more: Microsoft beats Amazon to Pentagon’s $10bn cloud computing contract The index was also lifted by Microsoft [...]
