General business services accounted for 23.2% of gross value added (GVA) in 2010 according to an annual publication by the Statistical Service. Value added at current market prices increased by 7.8% to EUR 3,618.9 mln in 2010 while gross output increased by 7.0% to EUR 4,882.0 mln. The largest contribution to total value added was

Registered unemployment continued to climb on both a seasonally adjusted and actual basis in October. According to the seasonally adjusted data the number of registered unemployed for October 2012 increased to 39,510 from 38,375 in the previous month. Actual data show that unemployment rose by 29% over the year earlier to 34,752 from 26,947 in

The national consumer price inflation dropped to 1.7% in October 2012, from 2.5% in September and 3.0% in October 2011. Compared with the previous month prices rose by 0.68%. The Statistical Service reported that this was mainly owing to increases in the prices of certain clothing and footwear items, potatoes and electricity. Decreases were recorded

Industrial output was flat in August according to the Statistical Service. The index of industrial production for August 2012 was 73.2 (base 2005=100), the same level as in August 2011. The manufacturing subindex dropped compared with the year earlier by 4.1% in August. In January – August 2012, the industrial production index fell by 8.8%

Tourism revenue rose more than twice as fast as tourism arrivals in August according to the results of the Passenger Survey. Revenue from tourism rose over the year earlier by 16.9% in August, reaching EUR 312.1 mln, compared with EUR 267.0 mln in August 2011. Tourism arrivals in the same month rose by 7.9% to

 * Turnout – and Ohio – will be keys to victory, as U.S. faces Iran challenge and fiscal cliff * President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney face the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter White House campaign, with polls showing them deadlocked in a race that will be

 * Public transport severely disrupted, offices shut * Hundreds of thousands of Greeks began a crippling 48-hour strike on Tuesday to protest against a new round of wage and pension cuts that parliament is expected to approve narrowly a day later. Wednesday's vote is the biggest test yet for the government of Prime Minister Antonis

Saudi Arabian authorities have rejected a conservative proposal to allow women to keep their faces covered during security checks, local media reported on Tuesday. A draft law would have allowed women to continue wearing veils during the checks, and would have required their identity cards to be based on fingerprints instead of photographs, the Saudi

An explosion hit the main oil pipeline feeding a refinery on the western edge of the Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday during fighting between rebels and army forces in the area, opposition activists said. Video footage showed thick smoke rising from the pipeline which links eastern oil fields with the Homs refinery, one of