Image copyright Christopher Furlong/Getty Images UK productivity grew in the second quarter of the year but is still behind rates achieved before the global financial crisis in 2008, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics said output per hour was up 1.4% compared with the same period last year. It rose by 0.5% compared …
Image caption Royal Mail intervened when people started posting empty crisp packets back to Walkers Snack firm Walkers has announced a recycling scheme – after Royal Mail begged campaigners not to post empty crisp packets without envelopes. From December, snack fans will be able to post used bags – in envelopes, for free – directly …
Image copyright Getty Images The US unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest rate since December 1969. Figures from the Department of Labor also showed the US economy created 134,000 jobs during the month, fewer than were expected. Significant jobs growth was seen in professional and business services, healthcare and construction. Average hourly …
Fewer homes have been on the market in 2018 than in any year of the past decade, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender has said. The Halifax said house-hunters have been left with relatively little choice, which means that prices have still risen as a result. House prices rose by 2.5% in the year to the …
Image copyright Getty Images Shares in Chinese tech giants Lenovo and ZTE have fallen sharply after a media report that Beijing had inserted spying devices into US computers. Unnamed US national security officials, quoted by Bloomberg, said microchips were found in gadgets used by US government agencies. Lenovo’s shares fell more than 15%, while ZTE …
Image copyright Getty Images Young people in the UK are losing the savings habit – with more than half of 22 to 29-year-olds living with no savings at all, official figures show. Some 53% of this age group have nothing in a savings account or Individual Savings Account (Isa), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) …
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Does my environmental impact look big in this? Young people’s love of fast fashion is coming under the scrutiny of Britain’s law-makers. MPs say the fashion industry is a major source of the greenhouse gases that are overheating the planet. Discarded clothes are also piling up in landfill sites. …
Image copyright AFP Japanese car giant Toyota has announced a recall of more than 2.4 million hybrid vehicles worldwide because of a fault in their systems that could cause them to lose power. The recall of Prius and Auris cars includes 1.25 million vehicles sold in Japan, 830,000 in North America and 290,000 sold in …
Image copyright Reuters Unilever has scrapped its plan to move its headquarters to the Netherlands, after growing investor concern about the plan. Aviva Investors had said the move could force UK shareholders to sell their shares and offered “no upside”. Unilever, which makes Marmite and Dove soap, had been relocating to simplify its corporate structure. …
Image copyright Paul David Drabble Image caption A Xeros commercial washing machine uses polymer balls to lift dirt from materials As water shortages become more common around the world, the laundry industry is under pressure to reduce consumption of this precious resource and generally minimise its environmental impact. When Johannesburg native Charl de Beer moved …