OECD warns euro slump is going global December 12, 2011 EUROPE’S economic weakness has hurt trade, affecting the world economy, analysts at Fitch warned, as figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday strongly suggested worse it yet to come in the Eurozone, the BRICS nations and the US. Fitch raised concern about the impact of the Eurozone crisis in its global [...]
Brits told to retrain for new jobs December 12, 2011 THE UK jobs market is set for a “bleak midwinter”, a survey reveals today, after hiring expectations fell to their weakest level since the last recession three years ago. Yet “hundreds of thousands of vacancies” exist for people with the right skills or who are willing to retrain, according to Manpower, which conducts the widely-regarded [...]
CBI calls on business to save energy December 12, 2011 BOOSTING energy efficiency is good for business, and firms should work more closely with the government to cut costs and protect the environment, the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) announced yesterday. “There is a business case for acting on resource efficiency, and a threat to our growth prospects if we don’t,” said the CBI’s Neil [...]
Halifax: Housing market will stay weak December 12, 2011 WEAK economic growth and persistent high unemployment will hold down house prices through 2012, Halifax warned yesterday in its housing market outlook. Only record low interest rates will help stop the market falling further, the bank’s economists claimed, although mortgage funding pressures are expected to weaken this support. Prices will keep rising in London, according [...]
Indian factory output plunges December 12, 2011 INDUSTRIAL output fell for the first time in more than two years in India in October as consumer demand waned, adding pressure on the central bank to ease monetary or liquidity conditions, possibly as soon as Friday. Production at factories, mines and utilities plunged 5.1 per cent from a year earlier – the deepest drop [...]
PENSIONERS’ LIVING STANDARDS DIP December 12, 2011 HALF of pensioners have had to dip into savings to maintain their living standards, and a quarter have taken a hit to bail out their adult children, according to research out yesterday from MetLife. “If you are on a fixed income the effect of an unbudgeted financial shock like bailing out adult children is magnified,” [...]
Japan’s consumer morale drops December 12, 2011 Japanese consumer confidence in November worsened from the previous month, a Cabinet Office survey showed yesterday, suggesting that turmoil from Europe’s debt crisis and slowing global growth are weighing on sentiment. The survey’s sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was 38.1 in November, down from 38.6 in October. The [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 12, 2011 Cushman & Wakefield The global property consultant has expanded its EMEA sustainability team by appointing Justy Mathew as sustainability analyst, based in London. He joins from Pensions & Investment Research Consultants, where he worked on corporate social responsibility. Reporting to Andries van der Walt, head of sustainability for EMEA, Mathew will deliver sustainability consultancy for [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 12, 2011 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Panmure Gordon rates the owner of Silver Spoon and Twinings as a “buy” and said it remained confident of its 14 per cent earnings per growth forecast for the year. ABF last week confirmed that trading for the first two months of the year is in line with expectations and that it [...]
FTSE tumbles as doubts over Eurozone deal take their toll December 12, 2011 Britain’s FTSE 100 fell in light volume yesterday, with investors selling riskier banking and mining assets as analysts concluded that the lack of detail in a European deal on fiscal union left question marks over its long-term plausibility. London’s blue-chips fell 101.35 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 5,427.86, erasing Friday’s 0.8 per cent rise, [...]
