onth’s ers & ers
1. House Prices House prices have experienced a 0.3% rise after falls in March and April,
according to figures from the National Building Society. The modest rise in prices, which brought the average cost of a UK home to £166,022, followed drops of 1% in March and 0.3% in April. Annual figures showed prices are down by 0.7% year-on-year. The society said prices were being supported by a lack of properties coming up for sale. Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said: “Demand for homes remains subdued on the back of weak labour market conditions, but the lack of homes coming on the market is providing support for prices.”This is in part a reflection of the low rate of building in recent years which has failed to keep pace with household formation.” It added that house prices have remained fairly “stable” over the past 18 months, despite the tough economic backdrop.
2. BAE Defence giant BAE Systems is planning to axe more than 600 jobs and close
a historic factory which made tanks for the first world war. 330 jobs will be lost due to the closure at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, despite the factors existing since 1847, building ships and employing tens of thousands of workers in its heyday. Up to 280 jobs will also be lost at three BAE sites in Radway Green, near Crewe, Washington in the North East and Glascoed in South Wales under the proposals, as well as the prospect of 10 job cuts at the firm’s head office in Farnborough, Hampshire. The firm said the proposals now under consultation followed major efficiency improvements and reductions in the amount of ammunitions required by the Ministry of Defence. Managing director Charlie Blakemore said: “We need to adapt to very challenging market conditions and further reduce our overheads to drive better value for our customers and increase our competitiveness in the export market. “I know that this is difficult news for employees and we will do all we can to help them through this difficult period and mitigate the proposed job losses wherever possible.”
3. Euro Slump The Euro has crashed to its lowest level for nearly two years as Brussels
warned that the eurozone faces ‘financial disintegration’. The European Commission has called for drastic action to prevent catastrophe tearing the region apart, proposing that money set aside for keeping debt-ridden governments afloat should now be used to rescue troubled European banks. ‘Flexibility and speed are of the essence,’ said EC president Jose Manuel Barroso. There are also fears that the banking crisis in Spain will cripple the eurozone’s fourth largest economy and trigger a cataclysmic break-up of the single currency. The euro crashed below $1.24 against the US dollar to a level not seen for nearly two years. The single currency was also trading below 80p against the pound having lost 20 per cent of its value in the last three years. ‘The market has lost confidence in the euro,’ said Carl Forcheski, a currency expert at French bank Societe Generale in New York. ‘People are battening down the hatches.’
ro: Financial n before our eyes
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