Unemployment hits 11-year high - papers 12 Nov

Unemployment reached an 11-year high today when another huge increase in the numbers looking for work edged the total closer to the two million mark, The Independent reports.

Official figures for the three months to September showed that 1.82 million people were out of work, an increase of 140,000 from the previous quarter.

It was the highest figure since the end of 1997 and confirmed the fears of unions and analysts that the politically-sensitive two million mark would soon be breached.

The number of people claiming jobseekers allowance rose by 36,500 last month to 980,900, the highest figure since the spring of 2001 and the worst monthly increase since 1992.

BORROWERS TAKING OUT POPULAR tracker mortgages in the wake of the global credit crisis are paying the highest rates in more than seven years, official figures have revealed, according to The Telegraph.

Banks and building societies have quietly increased the costs for new borrowers to profit from sharp reductions in the Bank of England base rate.

The average tracker mortgage in October was 6.84 per cent - compared to a base rate of just 4.5 per cent.

Last week, the Bank of England cut the base rate by a further 1.5 percentage points to three per cent.

The actions of the mortgage lenders will anger ministers who have repeatedly called on banks to allow homeowners to benefit from interest rate cuts intended to alleviate the impact of the forthcoming recession.

The Treasury said last night that the Chancellor and Prime Minister have made it very clear that they want lenders to pass on the full benefit of interest rates cut to all borrowers.

THE US BANK CITIGROUP is halting repossessions for most of its struggling mortgage borrowers in response to pressure for a softer approach in tackling the vast American sub-prime loans crisis, according to The Guardian.

Citi said it was imposing a moratorium on foreclosures for all clients willing to work "in good faith" to restructure mortgages, as long as they have sufficient income to make payments of some sort.

The initiative came amid fresh signs of the turmoil gripping the financial sector. Late on Monday, the credit card company American Express revealed it was turning itself into a bank, which makes it eligible for aid under the US government's $700bn (£444bn) bail-out fund. American Express has struggled with a surge in bad debts on customers' cards. The 158-year-old firm said offering high-street bank accounts would "build a larger deposit base to broaden our funding sources".

Political momentum has been gathering for aid to homeowners to help "main street" alongside the US treasury's rescue of Wall Street banks.

DUTCH BANKING GIANT ING has reported its first quarterly loss for the three months to the end of September, the BBC reports.

The group said it made a loss of 585m euros (£478m;$737m) for the period, compared with a profit of 1.95bn euros for the same period last year.

Net profits for the first nine months of the year fell by more than half compared with the same period in 2007.

The bank received 10bn euros from the Dutch government in October to help it cope with the financial crisis.

Michel Tilmant, chairman of ING, described his company's performance as "resilient" in light of the "challenging and highly competitive environment”.

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