Trade gap narrows as 2012 ends due to £769m export increase February 7, 2013 THE UK’S trade deficit narrowed from £3.6bn in November to £3.2bn in December, according to data out yesterday. The overall narrowing was driven by a £769m – 1.9 per cent – jump in exports, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, outweighing a £393m bump to imports. But this end of year improvement could not [...]
Spanish industry collapses as German factories bounce back February 7, 2013 INDUSTRIAL production crashed in Spain, over the year to December, but recovered in Germany during the same month. Spanish industry produced 8.5 per cent less in December than it did a year before, according to data put out by its official statistical body, INE, yesterday. This was worse than November, when production was down seven [...]
Think tank says UK will see no growth in first quarter of 2013 February 7, 2013 THE UK is set to stay stuck in a growth plateau for a further three months, according to forecasts released yesterday. GDP will stay completely flat during the first quarter of 2013, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said, quashing hopes the economy would reverse some of the decline suffered in the [...]
Jobless claims still high in US after recession February 7, 2013 NEW US jobless claims fell slightly in the final week of January, according to data out yesterday. New unemployment insurance applications were 366,000 in the week ending 2 February, according to the seasonally-adjusted measure, the Department of Labor said, down 5,000 on a week earlier. But the level remained within touching distance with the number [...]
Finance lessons on curriculum February 7, 2013 FINANCIAL education will be taught in all schools by 2014, under plans put out for consultation yesterday by education secretary Michael Gove. The new national curriculum will include basic household matters such as budgeting, as well as wages, taxes, debt, financial risk “and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services”. However Gove has [...]
Industry slump gets deeper February 7, 2013 THE INDUSTRIAL decline that made a big contribution to last quarter’s fall in GDP was even bigger than originally estimated, according to data out yesterday. Industrial production was 1.9 per cent lower in the fourth quarter of 2012 than in the third, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was the [...]
Tui and Thomas Cook pare back winter losses February 7, 2013 THOMAS Cook came out best in yesterday’s slew of travel company updates, though a shareholder rebellion over executive pay cast a cloud over its turnaround efforts. The world’s oldest travel firm managed to narrow its quarterly operating losses to £69.8m, from £91.1m a year earlier. But its sales figures took a knock over the winter, [...]
Compass grows as its chairman retires February 7, 2013 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest catering firm, yesterday posted a six per cent rise in first-quarter organic revenue, as contract wins in North America and emerging markets helped temper tougher conditions in Europe. The firm, which operates in over 50 countries and serves 4bn meals a year, said its large Ascension Health multi-service contract in [...]
Boeing missed 787 battery risk February 7, 2013 AVIATION watchdogs have pinpointed the origin of a battery fire that caused a 787 Dreamliner into an emergency landing last month, and said tests on Boeing’s new planes may have misjudged the risk of fire. The US National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday it is still investigating the underlying cause of the “smoke event”. But [...]
Fastjet says it owns Fly540 name February 7, 2013 Fastjet, the African budget airline backed by easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, yesterday said it was sole owner of the Fly540 brand, following a dispute over its ownership. This follows a statement from Five Forty Aviation’s chief executive Don Smith on Wednesday saying his company owned the Fly540 brand and had withdrawn the licences it had [...]
