UK Jobless Rate Drops, Tesco Plans

Arthi Gupta
18 Apr, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes dipped after the Bank of England minutes showed that the asset purchase program was retained by a split vote. The UK jobless rate declined in the three months to February. Tesco announced a

[R]4:00 PM London – The UK indexes dipped after the Bank of England minutes showed that the asset purchase program was retained by a split vote. The UK jobless rate declined in the three months to February. Tesco announced a £1 billion investment to improve its UK business.[/R]

The UK indexes slid after the Bank of England''s Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the size of the asset purchase program at £325 billion through a split vote and lone dissenter David Miles called for an increase in stimulus, the minutes of the meeting showed today.

However, the committee unanimously decided to maintain the interest rate at a historic low of 0.50%.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 16.73 or 0.3% to 5,750.28 and the pound edged higher to $1.5992.

UK Unemployment Rate Drops

Jobless claims in the UK rose by 3,600 in March to 1.61 million from the month before, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed today. The claimant count rate was 4.9% in March, unchanged on the previous month.

The unemployment rate in the U.K. dropped 8.3% during the three months through February from 8.4% in the January quarter, the Office for National Statistics said. The number of unemployed persons fell by 35,000 from a quarter earlier to 2.65 million, the statistics office said.

The youth unemployment rate eased to 22.2% in December-February from 22.5% in the preceding quarter. The number of unemployed in the 16-24 age group dropped to 1.033 million.

Gainers & Losers

Bunzl plc fell 0.8% to 1,018 pence after the distribution and outsourcing group said group revenue in the first quarter increased 7% compared to the same period last year due to underlying revenue growth of 4% and the positive impact from acquisitions.

Tesco Plc dropped 1.1% to 324.75 pence after the department stores operator said fiscal year 2012 group sales, including VAT improved 7.4% to £72.03 billion.

Energy Technique Plc plunged 19.2% to 4.75 pence after the maker of air conditioning and heating solutions said fourth quarter sales from its operating subsidiary, Diffusion, increased 22% to £7.1 million from £5.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

BHP Billiton Ltd rose 2.8% to A$35.10 after the diversified natural resources company said that its production of iron ore and metallurgical coal for the third quarter increased 14% from last year, but output declined 8% from the preceding quarter due to bad weather and industrial disputes.

WPP PLC fell 0.6% to 858 pence after the advertising agency company said Penn Schoen Berland, its wholly-owned global strategic communications consultancy firm, has acquired First Movies International.