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2013: The FTs year in charts

December 30, 2013 10:00 amby Kate Allen 11inShare40

by Kate Allen, Keith Fray and Patrick Mathurin What are the most used (and perhaps overused) charts of 2013? While the FT prides itself on the quality of its stats, its an inescapable fact that every year, a select few charts are published repeatedly. Usually encapsulating a major running news story, these are the data-sets editors ask for over and over again. The FTs statistics desk produces data for use across the paper and the website, so were perfectly placed to spot these annual favourites. And here they are in reverse order you can remind yourself of the most-requested charts of 2012 here. 10) Eurozone PMIs 2013 was a gloomy year for Francophiles. While most European economies picked up and business confidence began to return, France saw its fortunes decouple from the rest of the continent.

A sharp slide in confidence in recent months contrasted sharply with Germany, where sentiment ran strongly positive. As President Hollandes economic policies continue to cause jitters, analysts opinionsdiffer wildly as to what to expect in the coming year is sentiment running behind economic performance, or is it a forewarning of further trouble to come? 9) Mobile manufacturers market share No topic gets more mileage, column inches or interactive graphics for its product launches. Its the media industrys soft porn and everyone is addicted to it. Its no other than smartphone market share.

Globally, one in seven of us has one and the industry pulls in about $280bn in revenues. With an average selling price of $260 for a handset, the sums are huge if you can convince the public yours is the best. This year saw Apple and Samsung go downmarket while China Inc moved upmarket and alongside innovation, the major players also slug it out in court. But success never lasts long remember Motorolas RAZR, Nokias range of feature phones and now ex-corporate favourite Blackberry? So this chart could be soon destined for the scrapheap tech correspondents are all getting excited by watches now. 8) UK real wages In September an FT study based on long-run data from the Bank of England showed 2013 was set to be the sixth successive year of falling real wages, the longest period of decline since records began in the mid-19th century. As a result, this chart showing real wages growth versus inflation became very popular.

As the British economy recovered, the sustained fall in living standards became a subject of hot political debate. And it is not likely to end soon the latest average of independent forecasts for next year point to rises of 2.4 per cent in both average earnings and consumer prices. 7) Twitters share price The years most-hyped IPO saw an initially bumpy ride and the usual predictablevaluation controversy for Twitter. Although it slid in the first couple of weeks of trading, the stocks value has climbed steeply in the past month meaning Twitter investors end the year by having the last laugh.

6) Banks Libor fines. Bad, bad bankers caught at it again. This year saw a series of large financial institutions pay substantial fines for alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate.

The average rate at which banks can borrow from each other affects a colossal amount of financial products from credit cards to interest paid on car loans about $350tn in total. We

cant run away from the benchmark rate and neither can the institutions whose employees allegedly tried to manipulate it. Barclays settled first, last year, but 2013 saw a number of financial institutions settle with regulators. RBS, Rabobank, ICAP each time they reached a deal, we ran a list of previous settlements. 5) US unemployment rate. This chart was seen many times in 2012, usually with a headline asking whether president Obama could win a second term with unemployment so high. But in 2013 the rate assumed a new prominence.

Central banks have been moving from outright stimulus to managing expectations of when interest rates may start to rise forward guidance has replaced quantitative easing. At its December meeting last year the Federal Reserve pledged, subject to subdued inflation, not to raise rates at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5 per cent. Consequently the fall from 7.9 per cent in January to 7 per cent last month has been of prime concern to economy-watchers around the globe. 4) Japanese inflation When Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe took power at the end of last year, he declared a war on deflation. Japans economy has suffered a two-decade-long stagnation. With the help of new Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda, Mr Abe is tackling this through substantial quantitative easing, economic reforms and currency devaluation to make Japanese goods more competitive. The most-watched indicator of his success is the inflation rate.

Since the start of the year, price growth has begun to creep back in. But it remains to be seen whether these green shoots can withstand Mr Abes sales tax hike, due to come into force in the spring. 3) The Indian rupee In 2013, India underwent a collective bout of deja vu. Markets concern over the countrys current account balance caused international investment to drop and the value of the rupee began to plunge as it had done before, in the early 1990s.

Sentiment bounced back somewhat after the appointment of former IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan as Indias new central bank governor. He must now walk the tightrope, attempting to reduce inflation without eroding economic growth. 2) London house prices Londons housing has always been pricier than the UK norm. But in the past 12 months the capitals house price growth accelerated away from the rest of the country, in the process becoming a talking point among Londoners of all income levels.

London prices are up nearly 10 per cent year on year, while prices in the rest of the UK rose by less than 3 per cent in the same period. The growing presence of foreign buyers at the upper end of the market became such a sore point that the government announced tax regime changes in an attempt to crack down on it. And this wasnt the only thing causing wails of bubble! in 2013 1) The price of Bitcoins Its not the first and its not the only virtual currency, but 2013 was the year thatBitcoin became a phenomenon. It first came to general attention in the spring, when the value of bitcoins began to spike and that emotion-laden word, bubble, began to be muttered.

But the spring spike was nothing compared to what happened later in the year, when bitcoin really took off and became the dinner party conversation piece du jour its even one of the FTs words of the year. Is it a bubble? Can it last? Is it just for drug dealers and other nefarious individuals? Whos getting their fingers burned out there? One things for sure: now that you can buy anything from food to a house using bitcoins, media fascination with the virtual currency is set to continue. At least you could grow flowers from tulip bulbs
Tags: Bitcoin, Economics, inflation, PMI, wages Posted in Data, Statistics | Permalink
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