US economy sees first-quarter growth

Led by higher consumer spending, the US economy grew at an annualized pace of 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006, new data has revealed. That figure was about what analysts had expected and comes after growth of just 1.7 percent in the last quarter of 2005.Consumer spending was up by 5.5 percent […]

Bernanke: rate rises might pause

In testimony before the US Congress on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that it is his belief that economic growth in the US will become more moderate as the year progresses and that this will put growth at a more sustainable level. He also said that at some point the Fed will […]

Data shows 211,000 new jobs in the US in March

There were 211,000 more people employed in the United States in March than there were in February, according to new numbers released on Friday. This increase in new jobs was greater than had been expected and cut the US unemployment rate from 4.8 percent to 4.7 percent despite a downward revision of 34,000 jobs […]

UK house prices rise

Prices for houses in London were up by 7.2 percent in the three months between November and February, according to new data released on Friday. During the same period, house prices in the rest of England and Wales added an average of around 1.2 percent. That increase took the average rate of house […]

Eurzone, UK interest rates remain steady

Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England chose to keep interest rates at their current levels in meetings on Thursday. Both decisions were expected, but while many analysts believe that the ECB will raise rates next month, expert opinion seems to be that the Bank of England will not change rates […]

UK manufacturing data for March below expectations

While manufacturing in the UK was at its slowest pace in over half a year in March, producers passed their costs on to consumers at a higher rate during the month., according to new data released Monday in the CIPS/RBS Purchasing Managers Index. The slowdown in the growth of output came across the board […]