The UK’s ethical market is worth £38bn – powered by growth in electric cars and solar panels December 29, 2015 The UK’s ethical market is now worth £38bn, with a new report showing it soaring by £3bn in the last year alone. Inflation has barely risen above 0.5 per cent, but that hasn’t stopped the value of ethical sales growing eight per cent in the same period, according to the annual Ethical Consumer Markets Report, released today [...]
UK retail sales smash expectations in November as the Black Friday effect hits December 17, 2015 UK retail sales performed better than expected last month, partly driven by sales on Black Friday. Retail sales grew five per cent compared with last November, and grew 1.7 per cent from October, the Office for National Statistics reported this morning. James Knightly, a senior global economist at ING, said sales had been expected to rise just [...]
Hold onto your hat: It’s Saxo Bank’s outrageous predictions for 2016 including the oil price, the US presidential campaign, euros vs dollars, Brazil, Russia and the end of the luxury sector December 16, 2015 Bored by predictions for 2016 that tentatively forecast interest rate rises and a slight dampening of the property market? Want something that will really make you prepare for the worst (or best) case scenarios out there? Well hold onto your hat, because it's Saxo Bank's annual outrageous predictions for the year ahead, and they are just [...]
With consumer price index inflation inching up to 0.1 per cent, could the period of persistently low inflation be about to end? December 15, 2015 Kallum Pickering, senior UK economist at Berenberg, says Yes Falling oil prices and sterling appreciation have exerted strong but temporary effects on headline inflation, bringing it to zero for most of 2015. But even if there is more disinflationary pressure to come from oil in the near term, prices cannot fall forever. Eventually, the oil [...]
US inflation jumps ahead of Federal Reserve interest rate decision December 15, 2015 US inflation rose to a 2015-high in September as the impact of low energy prices began to fade. Annual inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in the consumer price index, jumped to 0.5 per cent in November from October’s 0.2 per cent. The figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the impact of oil [...]
UK inflation: We’re back in the black as inflation moves into positive territory December 15, 2015 UK inflation rose to 0.1 per cent in November, figures by the Office for National Statistics showed today – putting the UK back into positive territory for the first time since July. But analysts were less than optimistic about its ability to stay in the black. The figures showed rises in transport costs and alcohol [...]
Good news for UK consumers as research reveals food prices are expected to stay frozen in 2016 December 15, 2015 UK food prices will fail to grow again next year in a further boost to consumers, according to a new forecast. Food prices dropped 1.5 per cent in 2014 and are expected to fall again 3.1 per cent this year, Prestige Purchasing, a foodservice supply chain consultant, said today. Annual food price inflation had not been negative [...]
Brazil’s inflation hits 12-year high as food prices climb December 9, 2015 Brazil’s annual inflation rose to 10.5 per cent for November, marking a 12-year high on the back of a spike in food prices and the rising cost of electricity. This higher-than-expected figure for consumer prices marks an increase from October, when the country's inflation stood at 9.9 per cent, and September, when it was 9.5 per cent. Brazil's [...]
Venezuela’s socialists are staring at defeat ahead of this weekend’s election December 4, 2015 People in Venezuela were asked, earlier this year, to name any “very big problems” in their country. Eighty-four per cent cited a shortage of basic goods. Eighty-two per cent said crime. Three quarters referred to healthcare, which is little surprise given that Venezuela’s hospitals are in crisis. Even less surprising is the fact that, topping the [...]
Drop in core Eurozone inflation gives European Central Bank extra incentive to boost asset purchases tomorrow December 2, 2015 Annual inflation in the Eurozone was 0.1 per cent last month, according to official estimates released this morning, but core inflation has fallen below one per cent, offering European policy makers extra encouragement to boost their asset purchase programme tomorrow. Inflation was unchanged from October, yet core inflation, which excludes the impact of low energy prices, fell [...]