The FTSE 100 is up 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are Burberry, Imperial Brands, Vertu Motors, Compass Group and Henry Boot. Read the Wednesday 15 May Business Live blog below.
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British wages excluding bonuses grew by slightly more than expected at 6 per cent year-on-year in the three months to the end of March, giving the Bank of England pause for thought as it weighs the timing of its first interest rate cut. Economists had forecast wage growth of 5.9 per cent for the period.
However, the employment rate inched lower as unemployment crept higher – suggesting tightness
Since mortgage rates began rising, many of the nine million mortgaged households in the UK and close to two million landlords have been faced with the prospect of much higher payments.
Many had become accustomed to ultra-low interest rates for more than a decade.
In this six-part series, we look at how much more people are really paying when they take out a new mortgage, how households are coping and if a mortgage crisis is afoot.
Here we look at
Laura Suter: What are the key tax bands and how do you defend your earnings if you face a bigger bill
Millions of people are being pushed into higher tax bands and face bigger bills because the Government has frozen allowances and thresholds to drum up cash from taxpayers.
Stealth taxes are affecting people all along the income scale, as their wages and pensions might have increased to keep up with inflation, but more of their money is getting swiped
„Was soll ich tun, wenn ich über dich hinweg bin?“ fragt der Sänger Chris Stapleton bei „What Am I Gonna Do“, dem Eröffnungstrack seines neuen Albums „Higher“. Stapleton erkennt, wie jeder Country-Sänger mit großer Stimme, der seinen Stetson wert ist, an, dass nur wenige Gefühle reicher – schöpferischer, lebendiger, strahlender – sind als frischer Kummer. Das Lied, das mit Miranda Lambert geschrieben wurde, macht sich Sorgen darüber, was passiert, wenn das Zittern, die Sehnsucht und die Angst schließlich banaleren Emotionen
Attacks on faculty rights are frequent in academia, where professors’ words are now policed by illiberal administrators, state legislators, and students. I’ve reported on related controversies in American higher education for more than 20 years. But I’ve never seen a policy that threatens academic freedom or First Amendment rights on a greater scale than what is now unfolding in this country’s largest system of higher education: California’s community colleges.
Roughly 1.9 million students are enrolled in that system. Its
Higher mortgage rates have set house prices on a downward trajectory, although it is happening more slowly than expected.
The typical home is now worth £285,044, according to Halifax, which is 3 per cent – or £8,948 – lower than the £293,992 peak recorded in August last year.
The popular view is that the rapid rise in mortgage rates over the past year has dramatically reduced the amount people can afford to pay, meaning price falls will be inevitable.
However,
Older Britons could “be winners” if predicted changes to wage rises take place which could see state pension payments rise more than expected next year.
According to The Times, economists are forecasting that earnings growth may soon overtake the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation.
This would have massive implications for the triple lock which uses either inflation, average earnings, or 2.5 percent as the rate increase to state pensions; whichever is highest.
As it stands, the latest CPI
Interest rates look close to peaking after last week’s Bank of England hike and the hunt for yield his back on in earnest. It’s still possible to get more than six percent a year from a two-year fixed rate savings account, but this opportunity may not last much longer.
One alternative many overlook is to invest in a fund of government and corporate bonds instead. Yields now start at around 4.5 percent a year and can top 7.7 percent.
This
Russia attacked Ukraine’s grain ports in the early hours of Wednesday (2 August), including an inland port across the Danube River from Romania, sending global food prices soaring as Moscow ramps up its use of force to reimpose a blockade of Ukrainian exports.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said a grain silo was damaged in the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region: “Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide,” the ministry wrote on messaging platform X,
