Posts Tagged ‘February’
UK manufacturing output in surprise fall
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK manufacturing output experienced a shock fall in February after recovering in January following December’s weather related fall. According to the ONS, manufacturing output fell 1.2% on the month – attributed to a sharp drop in oil and gas production. However, analysts believe the fall is [...]
Australia posts trade deficit
Australia has posted its first trade deficit for 11 months in February after flood and cyclone disasters led to a fall in coal and agricultural exports. The Australian Bureau of Statistics published a deficit of AUS$205 million (£131 million), from a downwardly revised surplus of AUS$1.433 billion the previous month. Analysts were shocked by the [...]
Euro zone unemployment rate drops below 10%
The European Union’s statistics agency has today announced the unemployment rate in the 17-member euro zone fell below the 10% mark in February. According to Eurostat, 77,000 fewer people were out of work taking the rate to 9.9%. The jobless rate has been hovering around the 10% mark since last July and hit a record [...]
US Pending Home Sales Index up in February
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has announced its Pending Home Sales Index rose in February after two months of declines. The surprise rise comes after a series of gloomy reports for the US housing market. On a monthly basis, the index rose 2.1% to 90.8, confounding analysts expectations of a fall of 1%. On [...]
BoE: Mortgage approvals up in February
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals rose in February. According to the Bank, there were 46,967 loans approved in the month, up from January’s 46,152. The level of approvals was broadly in line with analysts forecasts of a level of 46,800. In the meantime, the number of remortgaging loans approved totalled 35,725 [...]