British brand affected by continued slowdown in luxury demand during cost of living crisis
Burberry has warned that annual profits will be sharply lower than previously expected after consumers left its expensive trenchcoats, bags and scarves off their Christmas shopping lists.
The luxury British brand said trading had been affected by a continued slowdown in luxury demand after rises in the cost of living and increases to interest rates globally.
Continue reading...Health ministry says posters in English outside apartment buildings in Athens were ‘absolutely false’
Greece’s health ministry is seeking police help against hoaxers who tried to scare foreign tourists out of short-term rental apartments in Athens by inventing a bedbug crisis.
A ministry statement said the posters stuck up outside apartment buildings in the city centre, festooned with fake ministry and Athens municipality logos, were “absolutely false”.
Continue reading...Richard Walker calls for price cap on infant formula as competition watchdog finds evidence of greedflation
The boss of Iceland has hit out at “exploitation” of new parents and joined calls for a price cap on baby formula after the competition watchdog found evidence of greedflation by leading manufacturers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday revealed manufacturers had increased prices by more than their costs during the inflation crisis, fattening profit margins and imposing an average 25% increase on shoppers in two years. It warned competition could be hampered because the market is dominated by two companies, Danone and Nestlé, which between them account for 85% of sales.
Continue reading...Respondents to survey for El País and SER also saw inflation as a bigger global threat than wars, energy, terrorism and climate change
22.6% of Spaniards have experienced “anxiety or depression” due to the rise in the cost of living, according to a new opinion poll conducted for El País and SER.
A further 57.7% feel discouragement or pessimism due to inflation.
Continue reading...Traders close shops, electricity bills are set alight and utility firm staff are attacked as anger rises over living costs and political strife
Protests against rising electricity and petrol prices have rocked Pakistan over the past week, with thousands taking to city streets and setting their electricity bills alight.
The cost of electricity has doubled in the last three months to about 50 rupees (12p) a kilowatt. Petrol prices have shot up from 262 rupees a litre in June to 305 rupees this month.
Continue reading...Opposition leader Raila Odinga rallies his supporters to the streets where there have been clashes with armed police in Nairobi and western city of Kisumu
Teargas and live ammunition were used against demonstrators as pockets of violence broke out in Kenya during a second day of protests against tax increases and rising living costs.
Despite relative calm in Nairobi on Thursday morning, there were clashes in the informal settlements of Kibera and Mathare in the capital, and in the western city of Kisumu. Protesters threw stones at police, who had mounted a heavy presence in Nairobi after the deaths of at least six demonstrators and more than 300 arrests around the country on Wednesday.
Continue reading...GDP shrank 0.1% in first quarter of 2023 and final three months of 2022 after revisions to earlier estimates
The eurozone slipped into recession in the first three months of the year, after official figures were revised to show the bloc’s economy shrank as the rising cost of living weighed on consumer spending.
Figures from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, showed gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and the final three months of 2022 after revisions to earlier estimates. A technical recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Continue reading...Dorin Recean takes office facing inflation at 30% and warnings of Russian plan for country’s ‘destruction’
Moldova’s parliament has approved the formation of a pro-western government led by the new prime minister, Dorin Recean, amid continuing economic turmoil and allegations of Russian meddling.
Recean, 48, was nominated by President Maia Sandu to replace Natalia Gavrilita, whose government resigned last week amid a series of crises in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Economic growth forecast to be 0.8% in 2023 but households still face cost of living pressures
The EU is predicted to narrowly avoid recession as a result of a milder-than-expected energy shock, although households face difficult times ahead as cost of living pressures ease only gradually, the European Commission has said.
Economic growth for the 27 countries of the EU is forecast to be 0.8% in 2023, compared with a 0.3% projection last autumn, when fears of winter power outages and the rising cost of living ran high. In the 20-country eurozone, the economy will expand by 0.9% in 2023, boosted by a better-than-expected performance in Germany and Italy, as well as relatively stronger growth in Spain.
Continue reading...US oil firm contests legal authority for ‘solidarity contribution’ to raise funds to offset soaring energy prices
ExxonMobil has launched a legal challenge against the EU in an attempt to derail the bloc’s windfall tax on the profits of energy producers.
In a high-stakes political battle as countries across Europe and the wider western world struggle with soaring energy costs and sky-high inflation, the US oil firm said it believed the EU had overreached its powers with the windfall tax.
Continue reading...On one of firm’s biggest shopping days of year, employees demand better wages and conditions
Amazon warehouse workers in the UK and 40 other countries are to strike and stage protests timed to coincide with the Black Friday sales, one of the company’s biggest shopping days of the year.
Employees in dozens of countries, from Japan and Australia to India, the US and across Europe, are demanding better wages and conditions in a campaign called “Make Amazon Pay”.
Continue reading...Cities are trying hard to keep the festive spirit amid the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine
European Christmas markets and illuminations are scaling back due to the energy crisis and climate breakdown – ditching seasonal ice rinks for rollerskating and switching on lights for less time.
When the traditional end-of-year markets and Christmas lights launch in France and Germany this week, in many cities such as Paris they will go dark hours earlier than usual.
Continue reading...Study by anti-poverty NGO shows more than half feel at financial risk and 80% have already made hard spending choices
One in four Europeans describe their financial position as “precarious”, more than half see a serious risk it will become so over the coming months, and 80% have already been forced into hard spending choices, according to a survey.
As the cost of living crisis, driven by high energy prices, rampant inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine, tightens its grip, the six-country survey for the French anti-poverty NGO Secours Populaire painted an alarming picture of “a continent on the brink”.
Continue reading...Charities warn increase in monthly local travel pass will freeze out millions struggling with living costs
Germany plans to replace its successful €9-a-month local public transport pass with a €49 version, a move that is drawing criticism from charities and social care groups who say the new price tag will freeze out millions of Germans suffering under the cost of living crisis.
The €9 pass (equating to about £7.80) was introduced as an experiment over the summer in an effort to entice people to use public transport and help counter rising inflation.
Continue reading...President accused of authoritarianism as PM puts end to days of heated parliamentary debate
The French government is to use special constitutional powers to force through its 2023 budget without a parliamentary vote, sparking accusations of “authoritarianism” from the opposition and underlining President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened domestic position since his centrist grouping lost its absolute majority in elections last spring.
“It is our responsibility to make sure our country has a budget”, the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, told parliament as she put an end to several days of heated debate over the government’s pro-business budget, which ministers said would protect people from the cost of living crisis while avoiding tax increases.
Continue reading...It’s a landlord’s market, as hundreds queue to rent properties with negotiable prices that many simply can’t afford
Peak housing bodies are calling for nationally consistent rental laws to crack down on bidding wars putting pressure on tenants in a shrinking market.
Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania have introduced reforms to ban rent bidding – the process of negotiating the price of a rental by advertising a property within a “range” or without a fixed cost.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Finance minister announces €200bn fund to protect citizens from rising gas prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine
Germany’s finance minister has vowed that he will not follow the UK “down the path of an expansionary fiscal policy” as his government announced a €200bn (£177bn) fund designed to protect consumers and businesses from rising gas prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Europe’s largest economy will reactivate an economic stabilising fund previously used during the global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, said the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at a joint press conference with the finance minister, Christian Lindner, and the economic minister, Robert Habeck, on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...The union is seeking a 3.5% annual wage rise, with an additional cost-of-living supplement
The New South Wales government and rail unions will seek to resolve a long-running dispute by conciliation before the Fair Work Commission next week.
The commission’s deputy president, Bryce Cross, had initially rejected a bid by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink applying to enter conciliation during a hearing on Friday.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...But there remains strong support in many countries for Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, survey finds
The cost of living is ranked by most voters globally as a more important issue than liberating Ukraine from Russian occupation, but there is still strong support for a Russian military withdrawal, according to a survey showing global preoccupations.
Majorities in 16 of the 22 largest countries believe Russia should leave the territory it has occupied in Ukraine, the survey shows. The polling in 22 countries of more than 21,000 citizens also underlines the extent to which the global south is less engaged with the war in Ukraine than Europeans.
Continue reading...From cancelling student loan debt to raising minimum wage, different strategies aim to reduce effects of soaring prices
The Covid pandemic, soaring food and fuel prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have dealt a triple blow to people around the world. Here is a look at what governments are doing to try to help citizens and companies weather the cost of living crisis.
Continue reading...