Economy

Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
“Ponzi” Madoff fraud investigation extends to UK

An investigation has been launched into the British activities of alleged multi-billion-pound fraudster Bernard “Ponzi” Madoff. UK officials will focus on investors who lost huge sums when Madoff's financial business collapsed, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Euro zone officially in recession, first since founded in 1999

The Euro zone economy entered its first official recession in the third quarter, EU data confirmed in a third reading on Thursday. The bloc's combined economy shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter after contracting by the same amount in the second quarter, the Eurostat data agency said.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil in “technical recession”; industrial output down 6.2%

Yet another bank cut the 2009 economic growth forecast for Brazil: JPMorgan Chase & Co. downed Latinamerica's largest economy expansion estimate for this year from 2% to 1.5%, as global recession takes its toll on industrial production and business confidence.
Friday, January 9th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
US unemployment 7.2%; 08 job losses highest since 1945

More US workers lost jobs last year than in any year since World War II, with employers axing 2.6 million posts and 524,000 in December alone. The US jobless rate rose to 7.2% in December, the highest in 16 years according to the US Labor Department release.
Thursday, January 8th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Bank of England cuts rates to lowest in 315 year history

Bank of England on Thursday cut interest rates to 1.5%, the lowest level in its 315-year history, as it continues efforts to aid an economic recovery. The half percentage point reduction brings interest rates below 2% for the first time since the Bank of England was founded in 1694.
Thursday, January 8th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil expects lower corn and soy crop because of drought

Brazil's crops of corn and soybean has been downgraded from previous forecasts because of the persistent drought in the southern states, said on Thursday the country's Ministry of Agriculture.
Wednesday, January 7th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Women's clothing icon Viyella goes into administration

Britain's women's clothing firm Viyella, which dates back to 1784, has become the latest well-established retail firm to call in administrators. There has been speculation for days that the future of the company, one of the UK's longest established clothing manufacturers, was uncertain.
Wednesday, January 7th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Obama takes off with 1,2 trillion budget deficit, 8.3% of GDP

The sharp slowdown in the US economy will push the federal budget deficit to more than one trillion US dollars, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced Wednesday. The 1.186 trillion USD deficit for the fiscal year ending on 30 September would be the largest on record.
Wednesday, January 7th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Uruguay, Peru, Brazil best performing economies

Brazil's economy, Latin America's largest, will likely end 2008 with an expansion of 5.9%, according to new estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Wednesday, January 7th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Accounting fraud (Enron style) rocks Indian markets

A four-day relief rally on India's stock market ended abruptly on Wednesday after the chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd resigned with a confession of accounting fraud in India's biggest corporate governance scandal.

Satyam's shares collapsed 78%, leading the bellwether Sensex index on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) down 7.3%.