Eurozone employment stagnates December 15, 2010 Employment failed to grow across the Eurozone in the three months to September, it was revealed yesterday. The Eurostat office estimated no change in job rates across the single currency area, yet revised up rates for the second quarter of the year. Employment grew by 0.1 per cent in the three months to June, it [...]
Christmas boost for retail sales December 15, 2010 Holiday season high street sales are up on last year, employer’s body the CBI reported yesterday. Some 67 per cent of retailers expected higher sales than last year, with only 11 per cent preparing for a decline. The positive index score was the highest year-on-year comparison since April 2002. However, fewer retailers expect the sales [...]
Production wages edge upwards December 15, 2010 Signs of pay rises in the manufacturing sector are starting to emerge, according to business group EEF. The average pay settlement crept up to two per cent from 1.8 per cent for the three months to October, it said. Only 23 per cent of the surveyed settlements ended in a pay freeze, and none resulted [...]
Fears grow for Japan’s economy December 15, 2010 The Bank of Japan’s latest survey of business conditions delivered more bad news for its ailing economy. The headline index of the quarterly Tankan survey fell to +5 (from +8), stoking fears of a contraction in GDP.
Factory boost for America’s slow recovery December 15, 2010 BROAD based rises in consumer prices and manufacturing were warmly received in the US yesterday, following the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year on Tuesday. Positive industrial production figures offer hope for the American economy as it stutters towards recovery. Overall production rose 0.4 per cent in November, despite a huge drop in automobile [...]
OECD: Britain’s tax burden is greater than peer average and up since 1995 December 15, 2010 BRITAIN’S tax burden has increased since 1995 and is higher than that of many peer countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed yesterday. Overall taxes, as a proportion of GDP, exceeded the 34.8 per cent OECD average in 2008, despite falling in recent years. Some countries have reduced their tax burden since [...]
Clash over female targets December 15, 2010 THE Institute of Directors (IoD) yesterday slammed the CBI’s “quick-fix” suggestions to introduce more women onto the boards of companies, believing that forcible diversification would constrain British industry. The CBI is proposing that all listed companies should be required to report on boardroom diversity. While stopping short of requiring firms to have a quota of [...]
BT cannot hike prices to pay for retirement December 15, 2010 BT will not be allowed to increase the amount it charges rivals to use its infrastructure to help plug its pension deficit, communications watchdog Ofcom ruled yesterday. The move is a blow to the telecoms giant, which had hoped Ofcom would follow the example set by regulators of the postal, energy and water industries, which [...]
Soros invests £7m in Flybe December 15, 2010 GEORE Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager, yesteday emerged as a significant new investor in Flybe, the British low-cost airline, following its flotation. The financier, famous for betting against the pound in the 1992 fiscal crisis, has acquired a 3.4 per cent stake though his Quantum Partners vehicle that will have cost more than £7m, [...]
McDonald’s faces suit in US over toys December 15, 2010 A US consumer group yesterday sued McDonald’s to stop the world’s largest hamburger chain from using Happy Meal toys to lure children into its restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is representing a Sacramento mother of two in the lawsuit, which alleges unfair marketing and other violations of California’s consumer protection law. [...]
