Better-than-forecast U.S. non-farm payrolls lifted world equities and the dollar on Friday, setting Wall Street up for further gains. The U.S. Labor Department said U.S. employers cut 36,000 jobs in February, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7 percent. Economists had expected a loss of 50,000 jobs and the rate to edge up to 9.8
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U.S. employers cut a smaller than expected 36,000 jobs in February, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7 percent, according to a government report on Friday which said it was unclear how severe weather had impacted payrolls. The Labor Department said job losses for December and January had been revised to show 35,000 fewer jobs
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Credit card spending by locals jumped in February according to data from the credit card company JCC. Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 12% over the year earlier to EUR 156,263,219 (EUR 156 mln), having fallen by 13% in January. The steep decline in January means that, for the first two months
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European shares were higher in early trade on Friday, following gains in Asia and the United States overnight, and ahead of a key U.S. labour market report. At 0920 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,040.83 points, on course for a rise of more than 3 percent
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Turkish Cypriots spent EUR 2.5 mln using credit and debit cards in the southern part of Cyprus during the first two months of the year, according to data from the credit card company JCC. In February alone, they spent EUR 1.2 mln. The most popular item was supermarkets (reaching EUR 557,401), followed by clothing (EUR
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British factory gate inflation picked up to a 14-month high in February, but growth of manufacturers' input prices eased more than expected and for the first time since last July, official data showed on Friday. The Office for National Statistics said annual producer output price inflation accelerated to 4.1 percent last month from 3.8 percent
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Britain's top share index opened 0.5 percent higher on Friday, as commodity and banking stocks led a broad-based rally ahead of U.S. non-farm payroll data, though WPP results disappointed. By 0844 GMT, the FTSE 100 rose 28.43 points to 5,555.59, echoing moves in the U.S. and Asia overnight, and having closed 0.1 percent lower on
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World stocks pushed higher on Friday after better-than-forecast U.S. retail sales suggested the world's biggest economy was stabilizing while the dollar held broadly steady ahead of U.S. jobs data. The gains in world stocks undermined bids for lower risk U.S. Treasuries and euro zone government bonds but the dollar held steady with some in the
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Tourism arrivals dropped over the same period of 2009 by 2.4% in February to 55,250, compared with 56,626 in February 2009. This was the same pace of decline recorded in January, although one consolation was that this was a milder decrease than the sharp falls recorded in the second half of 2009, when tourism arrivals
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Unemployment continued to rise in February but at a slower pace than in previous months, according to the latest data from the Statistical Service. The number of unemployed registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of February 2010, reached 23,949, marking a rise of 7,566 or 46.2% over February 2009. This was
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