Virtual client counselling more cost efficient 24. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot Almost half of all German companies operating in the internet economy do without modern communication technology. Not even 7% of all customer enquiries are dealt with via live-chat, virtual counselling or dynamic FAQ systems. Instead, more than 80% of companies cling to personnel-intensive and therefore cost-intensive means of communication with clients such as phone, fax …
People over 50 to receive unemployment for a longer period of time 23. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to the grand coalition elderly unemployed people shall receive unemployment benefits for a longer period of time before they have to take recourse to the so-called Hartz IV welfare benefits.
Production costs increased by 2.0% in 2007 22. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to the Federal Statistical Office, the production cost index for industrial products increased on average by 2.0% in 2007 as compared to the previous year. This increase is significantly smaller than that in 2005/2006 (+5.5%). In December 2007, however, prices were 2.5% higher than in December 2006.
German economy faring very well in January 21. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to the Federal ministry for economic affairs, the German economy is in a very good shape at the beginning of the year 2008. In 2007 Germany´s economy grew considerably. GDP increased by 2.6% after adjustments for price and calendar. Thus, the forecast by the German government was slightly exceeded. Employment increased by 649.000 people …
Wal-Mart leader in global retail sale ranking 20. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot The year 2006 brougth surprising economic growth stimuli worldwide. This was also to the benefit of the German retail sale: Metro (ranking 5th) and the Schwarz group (rank 10th) once again made it into the global top ten of retail companies. Aldi came 11th, Rewe ranked 14th and Edeka 17th. According to the “Global Powers …
SMEs determined to double profit growth 18. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot The business of German small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) is booming. Companies from almost all sectors of the economy significantly raised their growth and profitability projections for the year 2008. As compared to a similar survey a year ago companies expect profit growth to double from on average 5.0% to 9.3%. Sales are forecast to …
2.1 percent more jobs in German industry 18. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot As of the end of November 2007 almost 5.3 million people worked in the German industry. According to the Federal Statistical Office this corresponded to an increase by 110.800 people (+2.1%) in comparison with November 2006. Accordingly the number of hours worked by November 2007 increased by 1.8% to 728 million. Gross wages and salaries …
Strongest increase of consumer prices since 1994 18. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to the Federal Statistical Office, consumer prices increased by 2.2% in the year 2007 as compared to the year 2006. This increase is the strongest since 1994. In the year 2006 inflation amounted to just 1.7%. Most important factors for this accelerated inflation are increased value added and insurance taxes as well as energy …
Banks expect interest rates to fall 17. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to leading financial analysts from 18 banks, which were interviewed in the course of the “ZEW-Prognosetest“ by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), interest rates in the Eurozone will slightly fall over the months to come. With regard to short-term interest rates (3-months-Euribor) experts forecast an average decrease by 36 basic points to …
Innovative and successful entrepreneurs looked for 17. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot In the course of the „Entrepreneur of the year“ competition the Ernst & Young consulting firm is looking for the most successful German entrepreneurs in 2008. Entrepreneurs from innovative and growing small and medium-sized entities from all lines of industry are invited to take part in the competition.