Labour market recovery boosts optimism on US March 30, 2011 AN ADP report yesterday showed that private employers added 201,000 jobs in March – slightly below consensus expectations for an increase of 208,000 jobs. Small and medium firm payroll growth remained strong in March, adding 102,000 and 82,000 jobs, while large firms added 17,000 jobs. “This indicates continued momentum in the pace of labour market [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS March 30, 2011 OFGEM FORCES NOTICE CHANGES Ofgem has responded to pressure from consumers to force energy suppliers to give increased notice of rate changes. Suppliers have been ordered to give their customers 30 days notice before implementing price hikes. Geared towards protecting consumers from shock utility bill increases, the energy industry regulator Ofgem has issued new changes [...]
Northern Rock to axe 680 jobs March 28, 2011 STATE-OWNED bank Northern Rock is to cut up to 680 jobs this year as it streamlines to cut costs before a return to the private sector. Newcastle-based Northern Rock said yesterday cost management was a key focus as it seeks to return to profit. The bank said economic and trading conditions were challenging for lenders [...]
Why we shouldn’t bail out Portugal March 25, 2011 HERE’S a heretical thought: let’s not bail out Portugal. The near-bankrupt country has just seen its Prime Minister resign after losing a key vote on his government’s fourth austerity package in a couple of years, while Fitch has just downgraded the country’s credit rating. Yet the talk now is of a bailout – even though [...]
Why we shouldn’t bail out Portugal March 24, 2011 HERE’S a heretical thought: let’s not bail out Portugal. The near-bankrupt country has just seen its Prime Minister resign after losing a key vote on his government’s fourth austerity package in a couple of years, while Fitch has just downgraded the country’s credit rating. Yet the talk now is of a bailout – even though [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 24, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCLAYS AT CENTRE OF LIBOR INQUIRY Barclays is emerging as a key focus of the US and UK regulatory probe into alleged rigging of benchmark interbank lending rates that are the reference point for $350,000bn in financial products, people familiar with the investigation said. Investigators are probing whether communications between the bank’s traders [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 23, 2011 CATHERINE GANNON, 48 MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CITY LAW FIRM GANNONS LAW LLP Catherine is single with two children, earns a gross income of over £100,000 a year and pays a mortgage on her family home. She has a share portfolio and also has mortgages on various investment properties. She does not drink or smoke. She [...]
HOUSING SUPPORT March 23, 2011 CHANGES TO STAMP DUTY LAND TAX ON BULK PURCHASES If the buyer chooses then the rate of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on properties can be determined by the mean value of the homes bought, rather than the aggregate value that is currently the case. This will be subject to a minimum rate of one [...]
Lloyds beats lending targets March 23, 2011 Part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group has met its targets for lending to businesses and for mortgages, it has announced. The high street lender extended £11.7bn in lending to small and mid-sized businesses and £37bn to larger companies in the year to February 2011, beating its annual target by £4.7bn. It also provided £23.5bn in gross [...]
Osborne to hike tax allowances March 22, 2011 GEORGE Osborne will today unveil small tax cuts, help for first-time buyers and a series of symbolic measures to show he is tough on the rich. But his Budget could be overshadowed by spiralling inflation and weaker public finances, preventing him from pulling any rabbits out of his hat. The chancellor will announce that he [...]