Early Easter helps lift retail sales out of the doldrums in March April 13, 2015 A PICK-UP in the grocery market together with the earlier timing of Easter this year helped boost retail sales in March. Data out today from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG show retail sales increased by 3.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis in March compared with the same month last year when they fell [...]
Deflation sets in as shop prices fall even faster April 7, 2015 Shop prices fell at a record pace in March, with clothing and electrical prices diving, and food prices falling faster than ever before. Overall prices fell by 2.1 per cent on the year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), with food prices falling by 0.9 per cent. Those are both the fastest declines in [...]
Buy European stocks – but be quick about it – CNBC Comment April 6, 2015 THE money-printing has begun, equities are surging, buybacks are back, and foreign investors are piling in — but it won’t all be plain sailing for Europe’s stock markets. Thanks to the European Central Bank pumping €60bn a month into the markets under its bond-buying programme, the euro has just had its worst quarter on record [...]
Family incomes rise by £16 per week in boost to living standards April 1, 2015 Living standards are on the up, with the average family benefiting from an extra £16 in disposable income in February, according to today’s income tracker from Asda. The average household had £184 to spend, after budgeting for necessities. That is up 9.2 per cent on the year. The 3.3 per cent fall in the cost of [...]
Euro worries persist despite brighter data March 31, 2015 SLIGHT improvements in inflation and unemployment have not been enough to quell fears that the Eurozone’s recovery is still in a fragile state. Prices in the currency union are still falling on an annual basis but the rate of decline slowed to 0.1 per cent in March from 0.3 per cent in February, according to [...]
Eurozone deflation: Consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent in March March 31, 2015 While inflation in the Eurozone fell for a fourth consecutive month in March the rate of decline slowed again, meaning it's even closer to returning to inflation. Consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent in March in line with analysts expectations, and up from -0.3 per cent last month, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, [...]
Don’t fear the deflation bogeyman: It’s unlikely to harm the UK economy March 30, 2015 As flat as a pancake. Last week’s inflation figures showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of the prices of goods and services bought by households, was the same in February as it was a year earlier. This has led many to ponder the likely economic implications of deflation – if the [...]
Another BoE official just poured cold water on deflation fears March 27, 2015 Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent has joined a chorus of rate-setters who've said the risk of Britain slipping into a deflationary spiral remains low. "The likelihood of a broad and protracted deflation, afflicting wages as well as prices, is pretty low," he said. So far, low inflation has been a boon for the [...]
Japan just joined Britain in the “noflation” club March 27, 2015 Core consumer inflation in Japan stalled in February, meaning it has joined now Britain in the "noflation" club. The government said that its key inflation gauge, which strips out the effect of last year's sales tax hike, was flat from a year earlier. This means it has moved further away from the Bank of Japan's target [...]
Robust retail sales quell low inflation fears March 26, 2015 THE UK retail industry grew rapidly in February, dispelling fears that low inflation would be harmful to the economy. Some economists are concerned that if prices are dropping, consumers may opt to delay purchases. However, retail sales were 5.7 per cent higher in February than in the same month last year, according to figures released [...]