Hurricane Isaac is blamed for 15,000 rise in US jobless claims September 13, 2012 THE number of people who applied for US unemployment benefits jumped sharply last week, mainly because of delayed claims filed by people affected by Tropical Storm Isaac. The Department of Labor said new claims hit 382,000 for the week ending 8 September, up 15,000 from the previous week, when adjusting for seasonal movements. However, the [...]
Government departments still haven’t mastered procurement September 13, 2012 GOVERNMENT departments are still extremely inefficient in their procurement, even for very basic items, a TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) research note published today claims. The worst department – ironically – was Business, Skills and Innovation (BIS), while the best performing according to the TPA’s analysis were the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence. BIS [...]
London behind UK-wide boom in house prices September 13, 2012 HOUSE PRICES and the number of transactions both climbed in August, driven by a booming London, according to data released by LSL property services today. Housing transactions grew 2.5 per cent in August, hitting a new high for the year so far, while average prices were up 2.6 per cent on the year, the data [...]
Tourists desert UK in July as Brits flee rain September 13, 2012 TOURISTS deserted the UK during July, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday, while Britons escaped the gloomy weather abroad. Overseas residents made 3.2m visits to the UK during July, a fall of five per cent on the previous year, with earnings falling six per cent to £2bn. At the same time, [...]
Government waives estate agent rules to help property start-ups September 13, 2012 WEBSITES that host adverts for private property sales will no longer be subject to estate agency regulations, the government announced yesterday. The change in policy is designed to make it easier for homeowners to contact purchasers directly through start-up websites by reducing the regulatory burden. At the moment such websites are legally responsible for ensuring [...]
US budget deficit widens to $191bn September 13, 2012 ■ The US budget deficit widened to $191bn (£118bn) in August, mostly due to monthly benefit payments that were made earlier because of the September labor day holiday weekend. The deficit in August 2011 was $134bn. The Treasury Department said yesterday that receipts totaled $179bn in August, up $10bn from the same period last year. [...]
Brazil announces tax breaks September 13, 2012 ■ Brazil announced tax breaks for more than two dozen industries yesterday, the latest in a flurry of stimulus measures to bolster a slow recovery in Latin America’s largest economy. Finance minister Guido Mantega said the government will cut its economic growth estimate to two per cent this year from a previous three per cent, [...]
Indian economy to overtake China’s September 13, 2012 ■ The Indian economy will overtake China in 2048 to become the world’s largest economy, according to Professor Douglas McWilliams, Mercer’s School Memorial Gresham Professor of Commerce. In last night’s inaugural lecture, McWilliams, predicted that Chinese growth, which is already slowing, will decline to around four per cent during the 2020s. He attributes part of [...]
Brits take more train journeys as MPs criticise UK bus services September 13, 2012 BRITAIN’S railways have seen a surge in traffic in the last quarter – but the bus network, which carries three times the number of passengers, remains “the Cinderella of public transport”, according to MPs. More than 360m train journeys were made in the three months to 30 June, a rise of four per cent on [...]
London-based projects flatter profits for Kier September 13, 2012 CONSTRUCTION firm Kier Group yesterday reported a two per cent rise in full-year profit, as strong growth in its London-based operations helped to buoy profit. The FTSE 250-listed construction company, whose operations range from building power stations to providing outsourcing to local authorities, posted pre-tax profit of £70m in the year to 30 June, up [...]
