UK unemployment rate at lowest since 2009

The UK unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2009, official figures show.

At 7.4%, this is the lowest rate since the February-to-April period in 2009, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The number of people out of work fell by 99,000 to 2.39 million in the three months to October, the ONS said.

Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs the figures showed that "the plan is working".

Mr Cameron said: "There should not be one ounce of complacency because we have still got work to do to get our country back to work and everyone back in work means greater stability for them, greater ability to plan for their future, greater help for their families.

But the plan is working, let's stick at it, and get unemployment down even further."

But Labour leader Ed Miliband, while welcoming the news, said more people are working part-time because they could not get the hours they need.

This 7.4% rate compares with a figure of 7.6% for the three months to September, and is below the rate analysts had expected.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November fell by 36,700 to 1.27 million.

In Northern Ireland the unemployment rate was slightly higher at 7.5%, while Scotland's figure was 7.1.%. England and Wales matched the national figure of 7.4%.

The North East of England had the highest unemployment rate, at 10.1%, while the lowest rate was 5.6% in the East of England.

The North East also had the highest claimant count rate at 6.1%, compared with the South East, which had the lowest, at 2.3%.

Earnings pressure

Average weekly earnings growth, including bonuses, picked up by 0.9% in the three months to October compared with a year earlier, the ONS said, a slight improvement on the three months to September.

Excluding bonuses, pay grew by 0.8%.

But this is still well below the level of inflation - currently running at 2.1% - meaning that people's earnings are still falling in real terms.

Continue reading the main story

To see the enhanced content on this page you need to have Javascript enabled and Flash player 9 or higher installed.

The ONS data also showed that the number of people aged 16 and over who are in work was at a record high of 30.09 million, up 250,000 compared with the May-to-July period.

The percentage of the workforce in the public sector - 18.8% of those in employment, or 5.7 million people - fell to its lowest rate since the current data series began in 1999.

'Spectacular strength'

Economists welcomed the latest jobs figures.

David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas said the UK labour market was "showing spectacular strength".

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "These are very strong labour market figures, which back our recent forecast of increased growth in the fourth quarter of this year."

And Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: "The official data are now confirming the upbeat signals from business surveys, which have shown the fastest rates of job creation since the late 1990s in recent months, as firms respond to a marked pick up in demand."

The Bank of England has said it will not consider raising interest rates from their record low of 0.5% until the unemployment rate falls to 7%.

But even then, governor Mark Carney has said an interest rate increase is not guaranteed.

The pound jumped against both the dollar and euro after the release of the jobs figures, as expectations rose that UK rates could rise sooner than forecast

The Bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was unanimous in voting to keep interest rates on hold, minutes from its December meeting revealed, and to leave the central bank's £375bn programme of quantitative easing unchanged.

The MPC believes inflation could fall to its target level of 2% early in 2014, the minutes show, but it is concerned that sterling's recent 2% rise against other currencies could jeopardise the UK's economic recovery.

The UK grew by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2013, and the Bank is forecasting growth of 2.8% next year.

Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook

Manufacturers urge George Osborne to cut energy costs for business

Lobby group EEF calls on chancellor to scrap green taxes as part of series of measures which it says will support recovery

Britain's manufacturers have called on the chancellor to cut business energy costs to support the economic recovery.

Energy prices for UK businesses are rising faster than in other countries, squeezing manufacturers' margins and threatening to choke off investment, the EEF manufacturing group said.

The lobby group said increased costs not borne by competitors in other countries could determine whether companies invest in workers or materials and whether they do so in Britain or elsewhere.

The warning from business comes as figures show household finances suffering their biggest squeeze since April after a series of large price rises by energy suppliers.

In its submission before George Osborne's autumn statement next month, EEF urged the chancellor to sweep away planned green taxes in the name of economic growth.

EEF called for support for energy-intensive industries to be extended from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21.

It also said the carbon price floor – a tax on fossil fuels used to generate electricity – should be frozen and then reduced and that increases to the carbon price and the climate change levy should be scrapped.

Its chief executive, Terry Scuoler, said: "With government policies on climate change set to add as much as 50% to the electricity prices paid by industry by 2020, it must act now to stop planned rises in energy taxes and set out a long-term commitment to compensate energy intensive industries. Without this, we risk losing out on the investment in new technology and jobs that our economy desperately needs."

Energy costs have risen to the top of the political agenda after the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, pledged to freeze prices and reorganise the market if his party wins the next election. With incomes barely rising and business margins squeezed, rising energy bills threaten to be a drag on spending and investment.

The Markit household finance index for November showed a sharp drop in households' available cash as prices for essential spending rose faster than stagnant wages. The outlook for household budgets also worsened with 42% of those surveyed expecting to be worse off in a year.

Tim Moore, an economist at Markit, said: "November's survey highlights yet another setback for UK household budgets as weak pay trends and energy price rises appeared to overshadow recent positive news about labour market conditions. With pay falling further behind living costs, households saw the fastest fall in their cash available for discretionary spending since April."

The gloomy outlook followed a report by the government's National Audit Office that predicted household energy costs would increase faster than inflation for 17 years.

In its other recommendations to the chancellor, EEF called for a stronger national infrastructure plan with commitments to specific projects and more investment to unclog Britain's most congested roads. It also urged Osborne to boost funding for apprenticeships and to delay any new legislation and regulation until 2015 to give businesses a break from red tape.

EEF said the measures were needed to make further progress "rebalancing" the economy towards exports and making physical goods and away from domestic consumption – a goal Osborne set himself when he pledged to support a "march of the makers".

Recent official figures showed manufacturing output increasing faster than expected though the loss of 1,800 shipbuilding jobs cast a cloud over the news.

Scuoler said: "We are now seeing signs of a stronger recovery and industry is becoming more ambitious on investment and exports. But we are still some way off from securing the balanced and sustained recovery we need to generate lasting improvements in prosperity and living standards."

Article Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk
Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook

50,000 consumers switch suppliers after energy price rise, claim experts

Other 'big six' firms hold back from upping prices hoping to win over SSE customers after last week's 8.2% increase

More than 50,000 energy consumers have switched their suppliers and many more are expected to follow on Monday in the aftermath of the 8.2% price increase levied by SSE last week, experts say.

Other "big six" energy firms are believed to be temporarily holding back their own plans to raise bills in the hope they soak up new customers opting to leave SSE.

The mass switching will be welcomed by the government, which had urged consumers hit by the price rise to find cheaper options rather than passively accept an increase in the cost of living.

Paul Green, the marketing manager at Energyhelpline, said that at the end of last week his switching company had had six times the activity seen on normal days.

"I would think that around 50,000 people overall have switched their energy providers – not necessarily all from SSE – following the price rise. We would expect to see more activity on Monday ," he explained.

Green said any price rise triggered a frenzy of activity as customers reviewed their energy bills and considered whether their providers would raise prices.

"If British Gas had raised its prices the peak in activity would have been even higher because it is by far the largest supplier but SSE is the second largest so it was bound to be significant."

Often suppliers quickly raise their prices once a rival has taken the first step. While Energyhelpline expected others to follow suit, it believed there might be a delay as rivals try to win those customers who have bailed out of SSE or have just decided to leave their own provider.

But other City experts said companies such as British Gas were holding back increases in the hope that the government would come up with ways of removing some responsibilities and costs, such as the ECO energy company obligation to provide lagging and other measures for poorer homes. Downing Street confirmed last Friday that the government was considering ways of cutting financial support in a bid to reduce overall fuel bills.

Energy companies including SSE have been campaigning for environmental measures to be taken off bills and put on to generation taxation while others want them scrapped completely.

The SSE price rise – the first to be announced by one of the big six this winter – will take effect from 15 November and force up the cost of living for more than 7 million customers.

SSE blamed government policy charges and green levies for the increase, which it insisted equated to an average rise of just £2 a week on most bills.

Michael Fallon, the energy minister, encouraged people to consider switching to one of the company's rivals."The best answer here is more competition. I would encourage customers to look at the tariffs they are on, and see if they can switch. That competition is best," he argued.

But the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, made an impassioned attack on SSE, accusing it of ripping off customers and said the latest "scandal" showed why the government needed to act.

But David Cameron responded by saying the proposal to freeze energy prices, first unveiled by Miliband at the Labour conference two weeks ago, was a "con" because the increases were driven by international pressures and a moratorium would not help.

Article Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk

Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook

Energy lobby insiders will lead cold war against Labour

Ed Miliband's threatened price freeze will be resisted by people representing the big six power companies who have been put in key places in government

ScottishPower, one of the UK's big six energy companies, turned up the public heat on Labour leader Ed Miliband last week by warning that investment in new power stations will be endangered by his plans for a price freeze.

But it was not just Labour that was coming under pressure. The industry's considerable lobbying powers were acknowledged at the Conservative party conference when the energy minister, Michael Fallon, referred to the sector's trade body, Energy UK, as "one of the strongest and most well-argued lobbies there is".

But the real lobbying is going on behind the scenes, where the major players have a large network of individuals defending the sector's interests.

Keith Anderson, chief corporate officer at ScottishPower, told Miliband ina letter released to the media that a freeze would foment doubts and create an atmosphere that would affect "the appetite to invest".

But Angela Knight, chief executive of Energy UK, was later peddling a more low-key line: "We need a calm, considered debate and want to engage all parties and consumers in the discussion."

The Labour party is wary of Knight, a former Conservative MP and until little more than a year ago chief executive of the British Bankers' Association. Bilateral talks are expected to take place between Miliband and each of the big six companies, with Knight kept at a distance.

And one public relations adviser to the power companies said privately that the big six would now begin a behind-the-scenes cold war, rather than continue the open hostility: "It would be a big mistake to wage a big campaign against this. It would make them look even more like pantomime villains than they already do. Instead, they will work quietly to do their very best, aided by the Murdoch press and others, to make sure Labour does not get in."

The firms would also use the employees they have already placed on secondments in the heart of government, and their scores of public affairs experts, to reinforce the carefully cultivated impression that they were indispensable to the government's plans to create a low-carbon energy system, sources said.

"The Department of Energy and Climate Change [Decc] is under the strong impression that it cannot do the things it wants to do without the big six – it just simply doesn't believe it is possible," another lobbyist said.

Current government policy, developed by the Conservatives while in opposition, was heavily influenced by two of the big six – EDF and British Gas-owner Centrica – according to industry sources: "EDF and Centrica are now just an offshoot of Decc – they are all so in bed with each other they are indistinguishable."

It was Centrica's chairman, Sir Roger Carr, who was most aggressive in his comments following the Miliband speech, arguing that a price freeze would lead to "economic ruin". Equally, Centrica is one of only three big six firms that has yet to respond formally to a Labour letter setting out its policy of a 20-month price freeze if Miliband were to win the 2015 general election.

After the 2010 election, Centrica's chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, was appointed to David Cameron's business advisory council, while the prime minister's current energy adviser in Downing Street, Tara Singh, is a former Centrica employee. The source suggested that the same help in writing policy would be offered to Labour.

Energy companies, including Centrica, EDF and RWE npower, have placed dozens of staff in government departments on secondments since 2008, either funded by the taxpayer or provided for nothing. (Civil servants also travel in the opposite direction and spend time in energy companies.) By the end of 2012 almost two dozen were in place in the energy department.

Tom Burke, a former head of Friends of the Earth who worked as special adviser to several Conservative ministers, said: "The secondments are pernicious, but the real power is how [the energy companies] shape the discourse through the media – that is where their many lobbyists do their real work. They constantly feed hard-pressed journalists lines their editors will like."

The energy industry's access to ministers is shown by 195 declared meetings between Decc ministers and energy companies and their lobby groups in the 10 months after the 2010 general election alone. There were 17 meetings with green campaign groups in the same period.

The heat on Miliband, Fallon and their parliamentary colleagues is clearly going to remain turned up.

WILL IT GO DARK?

Ed Miliband has been warned about potential power blackouts if he introduces a price freeze, but this did not happen in the past when energy bills were controlled by the state.

In fact, 15 of the European Union's 28 member governments already protect customers from steep power rises, without major problems.

ScottishPower warned last week that investment might be cut in Britain should there be a price cap, but tariff rises are strictly controlled in Spain, the home of its parent group, Iberdrola. It was only last month that Iberdrola received permission for a 3% rise this year. Scottish has yet to announce increases for 2013, but last December alone it raised gas and electricity prices by 7%.

French state-controlled EDF, another of the big six firms operating in Britain, is also restricted from raising its prices above an officially imposed index-linked formula in its domestic market.

This summer EDF was allowed to raise electricity prices by just 5% for the next 12 months, with the same agreed for the following August. But the rise in France has tended to be around 2% per annum in recent years.

Last year the Belgian government introduced its own freeze on the tariffs of variable energy contracts for residential consumers and small businesses from 1 April to the end of December 2012.

Portugal, Denmark and Greece also have controlled prices, while British customers pay the fourth-highest bills for electricity in Europe and the seventh-highest for gas. 

Article Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk

Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook

Ed Miliband pledges help on business rates for high street traders

Ed Miliband will promise to freeze rates for businesses with a rateable value of less than £50,000 at 2014 levels for three years

Ed Miliband has won praise from campaigners trying to help revive Britain's high streets as it emerged that the Labour leader would help small businesses by freezing their business rates.

Bill Grimsey, the veteran retailer who called for "root and branch" reform of the rates system in his recently launched report on the fate of the high street, said: "Small businesses are being heavily squeezed by big rises in business rates and this is pushing many over the edge. Businesses have been crying out for help for years and Ed Miliband is the first party leader to demonstrate that he gets it."

In his speech at the Labour party conference on Tuesday Miliband will promise to freeze rates for businesses with a rateable value of less than £50,000 at 2014 levels for three years from 2015, should his party win power.

Labour's move comes despite positive signs on the high street as figures showed the rate of store closures slowing slightly. The data also showed how charity shops, betting shops and other services are replacing clothes stores and shoe shops.

In the UK's top 500 towns 18 stores a day closed in the first half of 2013, just two fewer a day than in the same period last year, according to figures released by accountancy firm PwC and the Local Data Company. However, that slower rate of closures combined with an 18% rise in the number of new stores to produce a dramatic drop in the number of empty shops to 209, compared with 953 in the first half of last year.

The figures, which focus on large chains, showed charity shops, cheque cashing outlets and bookies as the biggest winners while photographic stores, women's clothes shops and video libraries were the biggest losers – reflecting the dramatic downsizing of photography chain Jessops and video rental store Blockbuster after both went into administration this year.

Mike Jervis, insolvency partner and retail specialist at PwC, said: "The shifts in multiple retailers' store portfolios are a barometer for changes in our society and its habits. Closures in areas such as the photography and video sectors reflect the sea-change in how consumers are spending."

Other chains to gain included hearing aid shops, three-star hotels and coffee shops.

The changes echo a similar picture among independent retailers, where it was revealed this month that traditional independent shops are rapidly being replaced by service providers such as barbers, coffee shops and nailbars.

A record 200 independent retailers such as clothing stores, shoe shops and newsagents closed in the UK's top 500 towns in the first half of this year, about the same number as in the 2012 full year.

Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, said: "This analysis of openings and closures in the top 500 town centres shows how significant the changes are to the makeup of our high streets. The good news is that the significant decline in chain retailers numbers in town centres in 2012 is slowing down."

High street winners and losers

Charity shops

Outlets: +97

Percentage change: +2.8%

Cheque cashing

Outlets: +62

Percentage change: +10.4%

Betting shops

Outlets: +53

Percentage change: 2.2%

Convenience stores

Outlets: +52

Percentage change: +3.6%

Photography shops

Outlets: -132

Percentage change: -24.3%

Women's clothes

Outlets: -122

Percentage change: -3.3%

Video rentals

Outlets: -104

Percentage changed: -47.9%

Banks/financial

Outlets: -78

Percentage change: -1.9%

Article Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk

Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook

Ed Miliband vows to get tough on zero-hours contracts

Labour's crackdown, marked in address to TUC, comes as UK languishes near bottom of G20 pay league

Ed Miliband will put forward plans on Tuesday to outlaw the exploitative use of zero-hours contracts, as new figures show Britain has suffered the second biggest fall in wages of any G20 country since the coalition took office.

In an address to the TUC, Miliband will set out proposals to tackle the spread of zero-hours contracts, now believed to affect millions of workers and which have become the symbol of a post-recession economy built on job insecurity and exploitation.

Miliband's commitment stops short of an outright ban on the contracts but will be welcomed by unions demanding he shifts focus from union-Labour reforms to proposals to help working people. Research published by the Unite union this weekend suggested as many as 5.5 million people could be on zero-hours deals offering little or no guarantee of work and pay.

Labour officials said it was likely the proposals would include giving anyone working for a single employer for more than 12 weeks on a zero-hours contract the automatic right to a full-time contract based on the average time worked in the 12 weeks.

The scale of the living standards crisis, in part created by demands for greater labour market flexibility, is underlined in the new figures from the Commons.

A combination of high inflation and a clampdown on wages by UK employers has meant that workers in France, Germany and Canada have seen their pay packets relative to inflation recover since 2010 while the average British worker is £1,500 worse off. Only Italy has performed worse.

The gap between inflation and wage rises mean average wages adjusted for inflation in the UK fell 2.6% from 2010 to the end of 2012 compared with a rise of 0.5% in France, 2.7% in Germany and 3.4% in Canada.

Miliband, who is likely to face a difficult audience at the TUC conference in Bournemouth as relations are strained by the Labour leader's reform efforts, will say any economy that works for working people must have security as one of its foundation stones.

He will pledge to "ban practices which lead to people being ground down", adding that "an unequal recovery won't be a stable recovery. It won't be built to last".

In a competing speech on Monday, the chancellor, George Osborne, will claim the economy has turned the corner, suggesting the recovery under way is sustainable and proof that he was right to reject Labour calls to abandon spending cuts.

A bullish Osborne will say the best way of safeguarding living standards is growth but also promise the proceeds will be shared fairly.

Miliband will propose three specific measures to reduce the use of zero-hours contracts:

• Banning employers from insisting zero-hours workers be available even when there is no guarantee of any work.

• Ending zero-hours contracts that require workers to work exclusively for one business.

• Ending the misuse of the contracts where employees are, in practice, working regular hours over a sustained period.

Miliband has asked Norman Pickavance, former director of human resources at the supermarket chain Morrisons, to chair an independent consultation with business groups and others on how the measures might work.

In particular, he will investigate options to ensure that workers who are actually working regular hours week in week out cannot simply be left on zero-hours contracts without their consent. They include the assumption that workers will move on to a regular contract after a specific period of regular employment.

He will also be asked to work with business to investigate whether other measures should be considered and whether additional legislative steps should be taken.

Miliband will tell the TUC: "We must stop flexibility being used as the excuse for exploitation."

He will continue: "Of course, there are some kinds of these contracts which are useful. For doctors, or supply teachers at schools, or sometimes, young people working in bars. But you and I know that zero-hours contracts have been terribly misused. This kind of exploitation has to stop."

The business department is conducting a review into the scale of the zero-hours contract economy, but Miliband's plans are the most specific proposals to reform so far.

The figures on wages, which also showed that the G20 countries Mexico, Turkey, Russia and South Africa saw bigger rises in real wages, were produced by the OECD and analysed by House of Commons library staff for the Labour party.

The figures highlight the problem faced by Osborne and the Bank of England as they try to sustain a recovery that has accelerated since January, but many economists fear could soon run out of steam.

Critics of the government believe persistently high inflation will undermine the benefit of rising wages and force workers to continue digging into their savings or adding to their already large debts to maintain consumer spending. But Osborne will insist the recovery is sustainable because consumers are also unloading debt.

Miliband will say: "Living standards have now fallen for longer than at any time since 1870. You know what that means. People not knowing how to make ends meet at the end of each month.

"After over three years of this government, with our economy still smaller than it was before the financial crisis, the rewards in our economy are going only to the few at the top. And that's not just unfair. It's bad for our country."

The speech comes as a time when Unions are demanding concrete signs of Miliband's responsible capitalism agenda. But his aides argue it is not a sop to sceptical unions since insecurity at work affects most people. In addition, most people on zero-hours are not in unions.

Article Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk

Azure Global’s vision is to be widely recognized as a reputed firm of financial business advisors, achieving real growth for ambitious companies and to become the first choice for F&A outsourcing for accountancy practices and businesses alike and if u want to Setup ur business in United Kingdom then  its not difficult in this modern age for more info visit our site Azure Global and join us also On Facebook