Victoria to force agents to publish property reserve prices in crackdown on underquoting

Real estate agents in Victoria will be legally required to reveal a property’s reserve price a week before auction, under nation-first laws to crack down on underquoting.The Allan government on Thursday announced that agents must publish the owner’s reserve price at least seven days before auction day or a fixed-date sale, under the reforms to be introduced to parliament next year.Real estate agents that fail to disclose within the timeframe will be unable to proceed to auction or sale.Illegal underquoting is an industry tactic used by some agents who advertise a property for less than the estimated selling price or the owner’s asking price. They do this to draw buyers in and drum up competition

The days of 4% pay rises are behind us – wages are now barely growing faster than inflation | Greg Jericho

The latest wage figures show no sign of wages growth powering inflation, as the real value of private-sector wages fell in the September quarter.Other than inflation, the figures the Reserve Bank of Australia most keeps an eye on are the quarterly wages growth figures. These give us a sense of whether there is so much competition for jobs that employers are offering higher wages and workers can demand higher wages without fear of their hours being cut.The RBA likes to think that the current level of unemployment means the job market is still “tight” (a polite way of saying they would like to see more unemployment). They believe there is too much competition for workers, and so wage growth will be strong and drive up prices

UK inflation eases for first time in five months to 3.6% before crunch budget

UK inflation fell to 3.6% in October, easing the path for the Bank of England to cut interest rates after the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s make-or-break budget next week.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual inflation as measured by the consumer prices index cooled for the first time in five months, falling back from a peak of 3.8% over July, August and September.The latest snapshot showed gas and electricity prices rising at a slower pace than a year earlier contributed most to the decline, alongside a fall in hotel prices

UK is worst-performing market for JD Sports as youth unemployment hits sales

Unemployment among young people in the UK is hitting sales growth and profits at JD Sports, the owner of the trainer and sportwear chain has said, amid warnings about the high number of under-25s not in work, education or training.The UK was the worst-performing market for JD Group, which also owns Blacks, Go Outdoors and a number of US and European sports chains.Régis Schultz, the chief executive, said JD was experiencing “pressures on our core customer demographic, including rising unemployment levels, as well as near-term volatility around consumer sentiment”.His comments came as official figures on Thursday showed the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) remains stubbornly close to the highest level in a decade.Despite a modest decline in the three months to September to 946,000, down from 948,000 in the previous quarter, campaigners said the figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Britain was at risk of failing a whole generation of young people

US economy added more jobs than forecast in September, after shock losses in August – as it happened

Newsflash: The US economy added more jobs than forecast in September, as America’s jobs market picked up after a summer lull.September’s official employment report, delayed since the start of October by the US government shutdown, shows that nonfarm payroll employment rose by 119,000 in September.That’s more than twice as many jobs as expected, thanks to gains in health care, food services and drinking places, and social assistance. Job losses occurred in transportation and warehousing and in federal government, though.But there’s bad news too

Ban on veggie ‘burgers’: plant-based products may lose meaty names in UK under EU law

Calling plant-based food veggie “burgers” or “sausages” may be banned in the UK under the new trade agreement with the EU, the Guardian understands.The Labour government secured a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU earlier this year, which allows British businesses to sell products including some burgers and sausages in the EU for the first time since Brexit.However, the deal ties the UK to some EU laws concerning food labelling, and the EU is set to vote this week on banning the use of “meaty” terms to describe vegetarian food after lobbying from the livestock industry.The European parliament voted for this ban last month, and this week the European Commission as well as the governments of the 27 member states will decide whether it becomes law.If it does, the UK government believes that the law will also apply to British businesses