Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:48 AM
by
adnana
Germany's unemployment rate has fallen to a seasonally-adjusted level of 8.8%, the lowest since June 1993, as Europe's largest economy continues to grow. The Federal Labour Agency said the unemployment total fell by 50,000 to 3.694 million in September. The fall was larger than expected and analysts said it should eventually help to lift consumer spending. Stronger exports fuelled by growing overseas demand for German products underpinned the growth in employment. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:45 AM
by
adnana
Unemployment in France has reached a 25-year low - dropping 0.9% in May to 2.2 million, the government said. The decline takes the jobless rate to 8.1%, still giving France one of the worst unemployment records in Europe. But the slight improvement will give new President Nicolas Sarkozy a welcome boost as he prepares to unveil laws aimed at relaxing the labour market. His pledges of economic reform have already lifted consumer morale, state statistics agency Insee has said. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:41 AM
by
adnana
Unemployment in the eurozone remained at 6.9% in August, the lowest rate since records began in 1993, according to official EU figures. Data from Eurostat showed that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate in the 13 countries using the euro was unchanged for the third month running. Unemployment has gradually eased since peaking at 8.9% at the end of 2004. The Netherlands had the lowest rate of 3.3%, while unemployment in France was the highest at 8.6%. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:37 AM
by
adnana
EBay has conceded that it paid too much for internet telephony service Skype - dramatically writing down the value of its investment. The online auction firm said Skype was worth $900m (£450m) less than it paid for it and set aside $530m to meet future pay-outs to some shareholders. Together that amounts to a loss of value of $1.43bn, compared to the $2.6bn price paid for Skype in 2005. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:23 AM
by
adnana
Sony has agreed to form a joint venture to design memory chips with the German firm Qimonda. Memory chips are used to store information on products such as mobile phones and digital cameras. Sony's decision to agree a joint venture highlights the growing trend of chip makers sharing the large costs of design and manufacture. The price of these processors has also been falling and this has squeezed the profits of manufacturers. Samsung, the world's largest supplier of memory chips, has been complaining about over-supply in the industry. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:20 AM
by
adnana
Global markets hit new highs on Tuesday as Asian shares surged after a new record close on Wall Street. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore hit record levels while Japan's Nikkei index also surged ahead above 17,000 points. On Monday, the US Dow Jones closed at a record high, after weak economic data made an interest rate cut more likely. Shares in banks were also boosted by the perception that the worst of the summer's credit problems may be over. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:16 AM
by
adnana
Israel has freed almost 60 Palestinian detainees, most of them members of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. Many went to the Palestinian Authority West Bank headquarters in Ramallah to be reunited with family and friends. Palestinian officials have welcomed the move but called on Israel to free thousands more Palestinian prisoners. Though Monday's releases fell short of the 90 expected, they are seen as an Israeli attempt to boost Mr Abbas at the expense of the rival Hamas faction. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:13 AM
by
adnana
Zimbabwe's central bank governor has unveiled a series of measures aimed at easing the country's economic crisis. A new currency will be introduced - striking more zeros off bank notes - in an attempt to curb the black market in currency, Gideon Gono said. The main lending rate will also rise to 800% from 650% in a move to tame "angry and formidable" inflation, which is running at an annual level of 6,500%. Restoring economic stability is one of the government's biggest problems. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:09 AM
by
adnana
Banks have once again shunned a £10bn Bank of England money auction. Analysts have suggested the 6.75% interest rates offered by the Bank were too high and as such turned off buyers. It was the second such auction in the Bank's history, designed to ensure lenders did not face the kind of funding crisis that hit Northern Rock. At the time of the crisis, the inter-bank interest rate at which banks borrow from each other had risen to a 6.9% high. They now stand at 6.3%. However these three-month rates - known as Libor rates - still remain way above the Bank's base rate of 5.75%. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted on
Oct 02 2007 8:06 AM
by
adnana
Hundreds of thousands of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest bank customers are being given a new security device to protect their online bank accounts. People who set up payments from their accounts, such as direct debits, are being sent small debit card readers that look like calculators. These generate a new code each time they are used, which must then be typed in to the banking group's website. The new system is similar to Barclays' Pinsentry introduced earlier this year. Read the rest of this entry »
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