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Consumer spending in New Zealand rose for a third month in a row in December, a survey by Paymark showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted total spend through the Paymark network, which processes a large part of all electronic transactions in the country, increased 0. news.instaforex.com »
U.K. annual inflation held steady in November at the highest level since May on increases in food and energy bills, official data showed Tuesday.
Consumer price inflation stabilized at 2.7 percent in November, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday. Inflation was at a 34-month low of 2.2 percent in September.
The November rate came in line with economists' expectations, but continues to hover above the 2 percent target. The highest upward impact on inflation was from food prices and utility charges, while fuel prices exerted downward pressure.
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, also remained unchanged at 2.6 percent in November. The rate was forecast to rise marginally to 2.7 percent.
As inflation is set to stay between 2.5 percent and 3 percent for the best part of the next year due to increases in utility and food prices, the squeeze on households' spending power looks likely to persist throughout 2013, said Samuel Tombs at Capital Economics. Nonetheless, inflation will eventually fall to a very low rate.
IHS Global Insight's Chief UK economist Howard Archer said he expects consumer price inflation to fall to 2.2 percent by the end of 2013 and finally below 2 percent in 2014.
Month-on-month, consumer prices increased at a pace of 0.2 percent, in line with forecast, but slower than a 0.5 percent rise in October, data showed.
Retail price inflation, at the same time, slowed to 3 percent from 3.2 percent in October. Mortgage interest payments had a downward impact on the annual change.
Excluding mortgage interest payments, retail prices climbed 2.9 percent annually, down from 3.1 percent a month ago. Economists had forecast the annual rate to remain at 3.1 percent.
In a separate communique, the statistical office said factory-gate inflation slowed in November. Output price inflation fell to 2.2 percent in November from 2.6 percent a month ago. It was forecast to ease to 2.5 percent.
Meanwhile, core output price inflation that strips out food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum, held steady at 1.4 percent.
Annually, input prices slipped 0.3 percent in November after staying flat in October. On a monthly basis, the input price index edged up 0.1 percent, the same rate as seen in September and October.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday approved the disbursement of $1.17 billion to Ireland under the bailout program, saying that the country has advanced reforms and continued steadfast policy implementation even as economic growth slowed.
The lender, meanwhile, warned that the Irish government should defer any additional fiscal consolidation to 2015 to protect the recovery, if next year's growth were to disappoint.
The decision followed the completion of the eighth review of Ireland's economic performance under a program supported by a three-year loan arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility. The latest batch brings total disbursements under the program to $25.49 billion.
The arrangement is part of a financing package amounting to $111.9 billion or EUR 85 billion, which is also supported by the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism and European Financial Stability Facility, bilateral loans from Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and Ireland's own contributions.
The IMF forecasts that Ireland would comfortably meet its 8.6 percent deficit target for 2012 despite health overruns and higher social welfare spending owing to high unemployment.
The economy is expected to record a gradual recovery, with growth of 1.1 percent in 2013 and 2.2 percent in 2014, with public debt expected to peak at 122 percent of GDP in 2013, the IMF said.
"All program targets have been met and a range of fiscal, financial, and structural reforms are in train," IMF's First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair David Lipton said.
"The Medium-Term Fiscal Statement set out a phased path for considerable further fiscal consolidation to bring the budget deficit below 3 percent by 2015."
Quotes from Standard Chartered: -We expect the US to pick up as 2013 progresses. Housing activity is improving, and employment has posted steady gains. news.instaforex.com »
U.K. claimant count declined unexpectedly in November and employment reached a record through the three months to October, confounding the weakness in economic activity.
Claimant count dropped by 3,000 month-on-month to 1.58 million in November, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Economists had forecast the figure to rise by 7,000. Claims rose by 6,000 in October, instead of the initially reported 10,100.
At the same time, the claimant count rate held steady at 4.8 percent, as widely expected for November.
Suggesting resilience in the labor market, the number of people out of work declined sharply, while employment increased during the three months ended October.
During the three-month period, there were 2.51 million unemployed people, down 82,000 from May to July, marking the biggest fall since 2001. The jobless rate held at 7.8 percent, matching economists' expectations.
The number of people in work totaled 29.601 million, up 40,000 from the May to July period. The U.K. saw the highest number of people in job since records began in 1971.
According to the Report on Jobs from Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG, permanent placements in the U.K. increased at the fastest pace for 19 months in November. There was also a faster growth in job vacancies due to strong demand from private sector employers.
However, IHS Global Insight's Chief UK economist Howard Archer said there is a real danger that the increase in employment in private sector will not be enough to offset job cuts in the public sector and combat the increasing labor force.
Consequently, Archer said unemployment could trend up gradually to a peak of 2.65 million in late-2013/early-2014, giving an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent.
Moreover, the ONS data showed that total pay including bonus rose only 1.8 percent during three months to October from the corresponding period of last year. At the same time, regular pay, excluding bonuses climbed 1.7 percent.
Consumer price inflation at 2.7 percent in October indicates that real pay fall short to meet rising prices.
Consumer price inflation in Slovakia weakened in November, after rising in the previous month, data released by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic showed Wednesday. news.instaforex.com »
