It’s a Christmas miracle: UK’s annual GDP growth hits 1.9pc December 20, 2013 Some Christmas cheer from our statisticians. The UK's economy grew by 1.9 per cent in the year to the third quarter, smashing analyst estimates of 1.5 per cent growth. Not one of the 31 economists polled by Reuters expected growth that high. Economic activity as measured by GDP is now just two per cent below [...]
Any Other Business – 20/12 December 19, 2013 Need help getting home after that Xmas party? Apple announced its top apps of 2013 this week and one of the editor’s picks was London-born travel app Citymapper. For those who haven’t already used the app – it takes your destination and gives a range of options for getting there. For giggles, it also includes [...]
UAE pulls out of BAE Typhoon aircraft deal December 19, 2013 The UAE government has decided not to proceed with a BAE deal for the supply of defence and security services, including the supply of Typhoon aircraft. The deal would have been worth around £6bn. BAE had not "built this prospect into its planning assumptions." The company says that a timely agreement in 2014 would be [...]
Exclusive: It’s a miracle – Netflix releases Christmas Eve viewing figures December 19, 2013 It’s a minor Christmas miracle: Netflix has released some viewing figures. Sort of. The online TV service, notoriously quiet about its subscriber base or their viewing habits, issued a press release this morning about Britain’s festive telly plans. The release, from an external PR agency, contains statistical insights including “a quarter of us (23%) Brits… [...]
This week’s US jobless claims are 45,000 higher than expected December 19, 2013 This week's US initial jobless claims figures have shot up. Analysts had expected a fall from 369,000 (368,000) to 334,000 for the week ended 13 December, but claims have risen to 379,000 – 45,000 higher than expected. That's the highest number since March. But the data has lost its significance. While investors had been watching [...]
How the US managed to avoid a Japanese style tapering crash December 19, 2013 Many thought that the Federal Reserve would never taper – or that when it did that markets would crash. But Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has managed to avoid a slump of the kind Japan witnessed in 2006. Then – as Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Michael Hartnett points out – stock values fell by [...]
The taper that wasn’t a taper is seeing European stocks rally. Here’s why December 19, 2013 It's a taper, but not as we know it. Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital, says that the decision has removed much of the volatility that we've been seeing in the final quarter of this year, and gears us up "for a delayed but eagerly anticipated “Santa Rally” to finish this year in a [...]
Wow, so bucking the trend, very resilience: Why is Dogecoin gaining today? December 18, 2013 While most cryptocurrencies are crashing today – one remains triumphant. Dogecoin has managed to combine two things that are huge right now – virtual currencies and the Doge meme. News that Bitcoin has been hit by fresh regulation in China has seen millions wiped off the market capitalisation of more established currencies, but Dogecoin is [...]
US housing starts see fastest rise in almost 24 years December 18, 2013 US housing starts have jumped from 0.891m to 1.091m in November, smashing expectations of an increase to 0.95m. They're now at their highest level since February 2008. That's an increase of 22.7 per cent, compared to last month's 1.8 per cent rise – making this month's rise the largest since January 1990.
How strong jobs numbers are putting Carney in a tight spot December 18, 2013 Some analysts think today's unemployment numbers will be giving Bank of England governor Mark Carney a headache. The surprise drop in the headline rate – from 7.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent in the three months to October – is a move towards the Bank's threshold level of seven per cent. When unemployment reaches [...]
