The number of Britons claiming jobless benefit fell by more than expected in December and by its biggest amount since April 2007, while the broader ILO level fell for the first time in 18 months, official data showed on Wednesday. But the improvement masked an increase in the number of people in the labour force
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All nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted in January to keep interest rates at record low of 0.5 percent and to maintain its 200 billion pound quantitative easing scheme, as expected. Minutes to the Jan. 6-7 meeting, published on Wednesday, showed policymakers had not radically changed their medium term view
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World stocks slipped on Wednesday after reports of bank lending restrictions in China, while the euro hit a five-month low against a broadly stronger dollar with concerns about Greece's fiscal problems nagging investors. Official media and banking sources said Chinese authorities had instructed some major banks to curb their lending over the rest of this
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The United States has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities over Internet freedom and will have more in the coming days, a top State Department official said on Tuesday amid continuing tensions between Google and Beijing. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters that Washington viewed free and open Internet use as a
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The Treasury Department persuaded some big banks to pay more than market estimates to repurchase warrants issued to the government in the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a draft Treasury report. Agency officials have been able to drive a hard bargain with some companies, particularly major banks such as Goldman Sachs Group
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Economic freedoms were sharply reduced last year on massive spending and bailouts during the financial crisis, a trend that could imperil future economic prospects, the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation said on Wednesday. The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal ranked the United States as the world's
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Sony Corp said it would postpone the launch of a motion controller, or wireless controlling device, for its PlayStation 3 to the autumn of 2010 from this spring, marking the second delay of a major product release in as many weeks. The controller, when used with a special camera for the PS3, detects the movement
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Thirty five exhibitors participate in Cyprus 2010 MOTORSHOW held here January 19-24, covering 14,500 square metres of ground, Chairman of the Cyprus State Fairs Authority Loizos Constantinou has said speaking during the opening of the exhibition. Constantinou said that in the new millennium characterized by high technology and specialization, the automotive industry has shown significant
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Having endured plummeting earnings and a financing squeeze, it is not surprising that many of Asia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are focusing on costs and quality control. But many export-oriented SMEs are also altering their strategies to focus on markets closer to home, as they expect demand from Western economies to stay weak. This
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The euro slumped to four-month lows on Wednesday as the loss of a crucial support level triggered a wave of selling from investors afraid the single currency was embarking on a sustained slump. Shares in China and Hong Kong also fell on reports the government had told some major banks to stop lending for the
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