Consumer confidence hit its lowest level for 2015 in September – Lloyds Bank October 28, 2015 Consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level it has been in 2015 during September, the Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report revealed today. The proportion of people who feel comfortable about their household finances also dropped to the lowest it has been for the last five months, said the report. And the number of people [...]
US inflation rate drops to zero in September but core inflation is nearly on target October 15, 2015 Annual inflation in the US dropped to zero per cent last month from 0.2 per cent in August, weighed down by cheap fuel, according to figures released today by the Bureau for Labor Statistics. The consumer price index (CPI) – the basket of goods and services used to measure inflation – fell 0.2 per cent from [...]
Virtually flat US retail sales back case for delaying 2015 Fed interest rate hike, say economists October 14, 2015 US retailers sold $447.7bn (£290.1bn) of goods last month, hardly posting a rise compared with August as falling gasoline prices weighed on revenues at petrol stations. Retail sales climbed by 0.1 per cent on the month in September, according to figures released today by the US Census Bureau. The sales figure also marks a 2.4 per [...]
Chinese economy: Weak inflation figures rekindle investors’ worries over China slowdown October 14, 2015 Weak data from China pulled Asian markets down overnight, as consumer inflation fell back and producer prices continued their deflation unabated. The country’s consumer price index fell from its 13-month high of two per cent in August to 1.6 per cent in September, dragged by slowing food prices. This is lower than economists had predicted, as [...]
ONS consumer price index: Pound tumbles as UK slips back into negative inflation in September October 13, 2015 The pound fell against the dollar to $1.52 this morning, after official data showed UK inflation turned negative for the first time in five months. The consumer price index slipped to -0.1 per cent in the year to September, missing economists' expectations for it to hold at zero. This marks the second time it's dipped into negative [...]
UK retail sales bounced back in September after miserable weather hurt August spending – BRC October 13, 2015 UK retail sales bounced back in September after the miserable weather in August brought summer to an abrupt end. Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG this morning show that like-for-like UK retail sales were up 2.6 per cent in September compared with the same month last year, when they had decreased 2.1 [...]
Employee exodus: The housing crisis is now a dire threat to the future of London’s businesses October 11, 2015 Tomorrow will see a key intervention in the housing debate. Business leaders from across the capital will launch a major campaign called Fifty Thousand Homes. That’s the number of houses we need to build a year to keep up with London’s growing population. Housing costs are becoming a problem for employers as much as [...]
UK retailers enjoy best September in three years with sales up 2.8 per cent – BDO October 8, 2015 Shoppers flocked back to the high street last month after a weak August as retailers enjoyed their best September performance in three years. UK retail sales rose by 2.8 per cent year-on-year – the best figures for the month of September since 2012 and the highest monthly rise since April last year, BDO’s monthly High [...]
Food prices drop ahead of supermarkets’ pre-Christmas battle – Nielsen and BRC October 7, 2015 Food prices fell back into deflation in September, industry figures released today show, as the supermarkets prepare to battle it out for customer’s wallets in the run-up to Christmas. Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC)’s latest monthly index said food saw annual deflation for the first time in three months, falling sharply to [...]
Eurozone inflation unexpectedly turns negative in September September 30, 2015 Large falls in energy prices pushed the Eurozone back into deflation for the first time in six months, according to an initial estimate from the official statistics agency. Consumer prices across the single currency bloc fell to minus 0.1 per cent in September, more than economists expected, and down from plus 0.1 per cent a [...]