Infozone Breaking World News

With the current economic downturn, coupled with consumers cutting costs, Marks and Spencer has announced today that its sales were down for the fourth consecutive quarter and that the outlook remains unsteady.

Marks and Spencer’s announced the latest figures, which do not take into account store openings and closures, shows a 4.2% fall in like-for-like sales in the UK for the first 13 weeks of the year. Sir Stuart Rose, M&S’s executive chairman said that he believed the company was undertaking, “the right things for our customers”.

The latest figures come after Marks and Spencer’s announced in January, that it would be closing 25 of its Simply Food outlets and two of its regular stores, with 1,200 job losses.

The fall in sales was not as much as previously expected, and better than the 7.1% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. Food sales were down 3.7%, with general merchandise seeing a 4.2% fall, but overall sales were 1.9% up, with a significant increase in international and online sales.

Official figures released by the Office of National Statistics, shows that UK unemployment rose to above 2 million for the first time in 12 years. The rate of unemployment was up 165,000 from November to January taking the total figure to 2.03 million.

The number of individuals claiming jobseekers allowance also shot up by a record 138,000 taking it to 1.39 million. This news comes after the TUC (Trades Union Congress) stated that there are now 10 people chasing every vacancy in UK jobcentres.

The ONS also said that the unemployment rate jumped to 6.5% in the three months to January, with many analysts suggesting that the figure could reach over 3 million by next year.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the recession in the UK would last longer than any of the other major economies, warning that the economy would continue to contract into 2010.

Online retail research group IMRG, has released figures that show that online shopping has seen a 13% annual sales rise in February, compared to the same time last year; bucking the downward trend on the High Street. But despite the annual sales increase, online shopping in February fell by 11% from January, although this is due to extended January sales.

Head of consulting for retail at IMRG, Mike Petevinos said: “These results show that the strong post-Christmas sales push and a toughening retail market have indeed led to a drop in spending from January to February”.

The figures also see the online sale of alcohol including beer, wine and spirits up 30% on January. There was also an increase in sales before Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February, with gifts and lingerie sales up, but electrical, clothing and health and beauty products all showed a drop in sales.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents 58 trade unions in the UK, has warned that for every job vacancy there is an average of 10 jobseekers wanting the position. The TUC’s research indicates that the problem is hitting the South East of England hardest, with up to 60 people chasing each job.

The most recent data shows that the unemployment figures hit 1.97 million during Q3 of 2008, and figures due to be published on Wednesday by the Office of National Statistics is set to top the 2 million mark.

General Secretary for the TUC, Brendan Barber told the press that the figures were shocking, stating that they “blow out of the water the government’s claim that there are plenty of jobs available for people who are prepared to look”.

The news comes after the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) estimated that the level of UK unemployment would reach 3.2 million (around 10% of the workforce) by the middle of 2010.

The National Health Service has released figures that show that the number of people being admitted to accident and emergency rooms in England suffering from knife related injures has dropped by 8%. The figures also show that the number of teenagers admitted with knife injuries has also dropped by 14%.

The latest NHS figures were compiled using admissions to accident and emergency rooms due to assault by sharp objects; this includes knifes. In areas that the government have been targeting knife crime, there has been a 10% decrease in knife related injuries, compared with a 5% drop in other areas.

In separate figures, the Ministry of Justice states that more people are being sent to jail for knife possession; 21% of offences now result in immediate custody, compared to 17% in 2007.

The NHS figures also showed that admissions with gunshot wounds were also down 10.2%, but the rate of admissions due to poisoning by drugs (including illegal drugs), has risen by 10.7% from 2006/7.

A recent study conducted by Nielson has found that social networking sites have become more popular than e-mail, with 67% of users spending time on social networking and blogging sites. The survey found that social networking is growing four times faster than other sectors and that in the UK one out of every six minutes spent on the internet is on a networking site.

Chief executive at Nielson Online, John Burbank said: “Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,”

Adding that, “Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer experience at large.”

The popularity of social networking sites has become apparent of the last few years with the success of MySpace and Facebook. It is also estimated that over a quarter of Facebook’s users are over 50 years old and the biggest segment of new users to the site were between 35 and 49 years old.

The Bank of England has lowered interest rates to an all time low of just 0.5%, and also stated that it would be boosting the money supply to help the UK’s economy. The newest rate cut has been widely expected and is the sixth time that interest rates have been cut since October last year.

The bank will also boost the money supply in the UK by up to £75 billion in a bid to increase bank lending. This process is called quantitative easing, where a central bank creates more money to boost an economy by buying hard to sell assets from companies and banks; this in turn helps commercial banks lend money.

Sceptics have been attacking recent rate cuts, saying that it has not encouraged the commercial banks to lend more, with many of them saying that rate cuts are becoming ineffective in stimulating the economy.