20121128 1051 Global Economy Related News.

South Korea: Current-account surplus narrows to USD5.8bn
South Korea’s current-account surplus narrowed to a two-month low after imports of machinery and equipment increased. The surplus was USD5.8bn last month, compared with a revised excess of USD5.9bn in September, the Bank of Korea said. The current account is the broadest measure of trade, tracking goods, services and investment income. (Bloomberg)

UK: Consumer spending drives 1% third-quarter GDP growth
Consumers helped propel the UK economy to its fastest growth since 2007 in 3Q as the London Olympics and a post-Jubilee rebound saw household spending increase the most for more than two years. GDP rose 1% from 2Q, the same as reported on 25 Oct, the Office for National Statistics said. No revisions were forecasted, according to the median of 33 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. It means Britain exited a double-dip recession in the last quarter. (Bloomberg)

EU: French jobless claims jump to 14-year high on stalled economy
French jobless claims jumped to a 14-year high as a stalled economy prompted companies to trim payrolls and investment. The number of people actively looking for work rose by 45,400, or 1.5%, to 3.103m, the Labour Ministry said. Economists predicted an increase of 28,600, according to the median of six forecasts gathered by Bloomberg News. (Bloomberg)

Greece: Gets rescue boost as EU trumpets latest crisis remedy
European finance ministers eased the terms on emergency aid for Greece, declaring after three years of false starts that Europe has found the formula for nursing the debt-stricken country back to health. In the latest bid to keep the 17-nation euro intact, the ministers cut the rates on bailout loans, suspended interest payments for a decade, gave Greece more time to repay and engineered a Greek bond buyback. The country was also cleared to receive a EUR34.4bn (USD44.7bn) loan installment in December. Greek bonds rose. (Bloomberg)

US: Consumer confidence gains as US home prices climb
Consumer confidence climbed to a four-year high, home prices increased by the most since 2010 and demand for business equipment rose, signaling resilience in the US economy as the new year approaches. The Conference Board’s confidence index increased to 73.7 in November from 73.1 the prior month, the New York-based group said. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities advanced 3% in September from a year earlier. (Bloomberg)