◆British Economy Down by 0.3% in Third Quarter  

The British economy declined by 0.3 percent in the third quarter of this year comparing with the previous three months, slightly less than the 0.4 percent drop which had been previously estimated for the quarter, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Wednesday.

This was an improvement on an initial ONS estimate given last month that said the economy had contracted by 0.4 percent between July and September.

The third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data for the United Kingdom showed a minor upward revision, in line with expectations. It is still some way short of the return to positive growth seen in the eurozone and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a whole.

The eurozone, France, Germany, Japan and the United States have all returned to growth following the worst global economic downturn since the 1930s.

Britain, facing soaring unemployment and public debt caused by the financial crisis, will hold an election by mid-2010, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour government is tipped to lose to the main opposition Conservatives.

Analysts argue that the main reason for this is the state of the British economy -- which has now contracted for six quarters in a row. That is Britain's longest recession since records began in 1955.

GDP shrank by 5.1 percent in the third quarter compared with the July-September period in 2008, the ONS added. That was a very slight upgrade from the prior reading of minus 5.2 percent.


◆U.S. New Home Sales Rise 6.2% in Oct
 
The U.S. new home sales increased unexpectedly in October as home buyers acted before a government's incentive to stimulate the housing market expires by the end of this month, official data reported Wednesday.

The Commerce Department says new home sales in October rose 6.2percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from a upwardly revised September rate of 405,000.

The October increase, which was the highest of more than a year, was better than the forecasts of economists who expected a pace of410,000 units.

The median sales price of 212,200 U.S. dollars in October, was down 0.5 percent from 213,200 dollars a year earlier.

Analysts say that the housing market was largely driven by the government's stimulus policy.

A 8,000 dollars tax credit program for first-time home buyers, which was set to be due on Nov. 30, was extended by the Congress earlier this month to April 30 next year.


◆GM to Axe 9,500 Jobs in Europe

U.S. car giant General Motors (GM) is to cut up to 9,500 jobs in its Opel workforce in Europe, GM's new chief executive for Europe Nick Reilly said here on Wednesday.

Reilly, speaking at the interval of his meetings with German political and labour leaders, said GM will keep open all its Opel plants in Germany, but the job cuts should be carried out.

He added that the plan was to axe 9,000 to 9,500 European jobs and reduce output capacity by 20 percent as GM tries to restore the Opel and Vauxhall car brands to profit.

In September, GM agreed to sell a majority stake in Opel, which includes Vauxhall in Britain, to Canadian auto-parts maker Magna and Russian state-owned lender Sberbank. But earlier this month, GM made a sudden U-turn and decided to abandon plans to sell its loss-making Opel/Vauxhall unit.

The move infuriated the German government, which broadly supported the Magna-Sberbank deal, and angered the workers of the Opel plants, who were worrying about losing jobs.

Local media reported that details of the GM restructuring plan for Opel are expected to be released later on Wednesday.

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