Monday, June 13, 2011
North East growth rate above the UK average
THE North East saw business growth slow last month despite a solid rise in new orders, according to new research.
But the growth rate is still above the UK average and output prices continued to be robust, said the latest Lloyds TSB North East Purchasing Managers’ Index.
Manufacturing remained the principal driver of growth and companies said they were growing because of a rise in demand and their own efforts to break into new markets. New order levels have now risen continuously for nearly two years.
Employment growth slowed to a three-month low in May, but remained solid. Firms stated that workers were recruited to meet the needs of higher activity levels. Manufacturers took on extra staff at a sharper rate than service companies.
Martyn Kendrick, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in the North East, said: “In line with the general trend seen throughout the UK, North East private sector output growth slowed further during May. “This was despite a further solid rise in new business. Companies indicated that the additional Bank Holiday at the end of April/beginning of May had contributed to the weaker rise in activity.
“Although job creation in the region also slowed since April, it is encouraging that it was still one of the most pronounced in the UK.
Labels: North-East-growth-rate-above-the-UK-average
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Mideast carriers see 12% demand growth in April
The significant increase from the 5.3 percent growth in demand in March indicated a return of confidence to the region’s long-haul operations, IATA said.
Globally, traffic results for April showed a rebound in international markets with 16.5 percent growth compared to April 2010.
While this is exaggerated by the comparison to April 2010 during which European airspace was closed due to the volcanic ash crisis, international travel markets in April had grown to reach a level seven percent higher than the pre-recession peak of early 2008, IATA added in a statement.
The increase in passenger demand was met by a 16.8 percent increase in capacity.
Passenger load factors fell slightly from 76.8 percent in April 2010 to 76.7 percent in April this year.
Meanwhile, international freight grew by 5.4 percent against a capacity increase of 12.3 percent, pushing the freight load factor down from 55.3 percent in April 2010 to 51.9 percent this April.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “Demand improved significantly in April. Eliminating all distortions, we are growing at 3-4 percent.
"International traffic is now seven percent above the early 2008 pre-recession levels, load factors are hovering around 77 percent and business confidence is high. Unfortunately two things are spoiling the party —demand shocks and high jet fuel prices,” he added.
Labels: Mideast-carriers-see-12%-demand-growth-in-April
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Verizon MiFi's Greatness has 4G Catch
This latest in LTE personal hotspots from Verizon came to market in mid-April and, like most such portable devices, connects any Wi-Fi enabled device to the Web. For sure, the unit is far from perfect. You will still taste the 4G rage of overpaying for underperformance. But in about a month of testing, which included my regular road trip of cellular death from New York to Maine and back and solid usage with Apple(AAPL_) iPhone 4 and iPad, several PCs, a Verizon Droid 2 and a BlackBerry(RIMM_) PlayBook, I found this MiFi to be useful and a reasonable way to connect to my office while on the go.What you get
This is, without question, the smartest way as of now for a small-business owner to stay connected while out of the office.
The MiFi Mobile Hotspot is simple. It is essentially an itty-bitty cellular data connectivity appliance from San Diego-based Novatel Wireless(NVTL_) that brokers a connection between Verizon's almost hilarious mishmash of cellular standards and a dead simple WiFi connection.
Since this device is designed from the ground up to do just one thing, it does it well. So there is not of the usual 4G wireless kludgefest of handoffs, incompatible software and incomplete deployments that must be managed by already taxed PCs, smartphones and tablets.
Labels: Verizon-MiFi's-Greatness-has-4G-Catch
