Incomes rise but Brits save instead of spend October 15, 2012 REAL income levels improved for UK households in the second quarter of the year, according to data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Yet austerity-minded Britons opted against increasing their spending in light of the extra funds, instead opting to add to their savings. Allowing for inflation, household actual income per head [...]
Construction slump squeezes housing supply October 15, 2012 THE UK construction industry continued to decline in the third quarter of the year and faces more difficult times ahead, according to two gloomy industry surveys released yesterday. Construction output is expected to drop by 6.3 per cent this year and another 1.4 per cent throughout 2013, the Construction Products Association (CPA) said. And the [...]
American consumer comes to the rescue October 15, 2012 THE AMERICAN consumer sprang to life in September, boosting US retail sales and suggesting that the country’s economic recovery could be sustained. Sales were up 1.1 per cent last month, the Census Bureau said – a 5.4 per cent improvement on the same time last year. Separate data measuring the factory activity in New York [...]
Price hikes quicken in India but remain under control in China October 15, 2012 INFLATION shot up to a 10 month high in India last month, official data revealed yesterday, worrying policymakers and denting the emerging economy’s prospects. Yet in neighbouring China, inflation eased further, stoking expectations of further stimulus from its monetary authorities. Indian inflation rose to 7.8 per cent in September, driven up from August’s level of [...]
Energy is biggest consumer worry October 15, 2012 UK consumers rate rising energy prices as the biggest threat to their household finances in the coming 12 months, a YouGov poll suggested yesterday. Households rated energy prices 7.8 on average – on a scale of one to 10, where 10 is the biggest impact on household finances – followed by unemployment at 7.4 and inflation [...]
France calls for food reserves October 15, 2012 French agriculture minister Stephane le Foll yesterday said strategic food reserves ought to be set up to smooth food prices in vulnerable countries, claiming that recent high prices mean the market has failed to self-regulate. But le Foll said France was unlikely to reach a deal soon on implementing the idea, since many countries stood [...]
Academic says cuts overstated October 15, 2012 The coalition is overstating its austerity programme in a bid to convince the bond markets that the cuts are working and the public that tough measures are needed, one academic argues in a paper out yesterday. Spending as a proportion of GDP is set to fall due to overly optimistic growth forecasts, Anthony Evans at [...]
McBride issues profit warning as sales slide October 15, 2012 MCBRIDE, Europe’s biggest maker of retailer own-brand cleaning products, yesterday warned that first-half profits will be hit by a sharper than expected dent in sales after the wind- down of its contract manufacturing business. The firm said trading profit in the year to the end of June 2013 will be about £2m lower than previously [...]
BAA brand bites the dust after firm renames itself Heathrow October 15, 2012 AVIATION infrastructure group BAA is to ditch its name and rebrand its airports individually. BAA was known as the British Airports Authority in the 1960s, when it took over responsibility for airports from the Ministry of Defence. But the firm has been owned by Spanish-listed Ferrovial since 2006 and in recent years has been forced [...]
ZTE slumps to first loss as firm is blighted by US security fears October 15, 2012 CHINESE telecoms equipment maker ZTE sank to a first quarterly loss yesterday due to project delays in a slowing global economy. ZTE blamed delays in overseas projects, which count for around half of its revenue, for a 2bn yuan (£198m) loss in its third quarter, which compares with a profit of 299.3m yuan for the [...]
