Labour market: Vacancies ‘tumble’ in January ahead of Labour’s tax raid February 10, 2025 Demand for staff fell at its greatest extent since August 2020, a new report from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said.
City split following Bank of England’s interest rate decision February 7, 2025 Analysts are divided about how far and how fast the Bank of England is likely to cut interest rates in the remainder of this year following yesterday’s decision. Rate-setters backed a third 25 basis point rate reduction, which brought the Bank Rate down to an 18-month low of 4.5 per cent. Every member of the [...]
Stagflation: Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces mess of her own making February 7, 2025 The Bank now expects the UK economy to grow 0.7 per cent this year, cut from a previous estimate of 1.5 per cent. Inflation, meanwhile, will hit 3.7 per cent later this year.
Why the Bank of England slashed its growth forecasts February 6, 2025 The Bank of England delivered Chancellor Rachel Reeves a mixed blessing on Thursday. Alongside cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, Bank officials halved the UK’s expected growth rate in 2025 to 0.7 per cent from a previous estimate of 1.5 per cent. This will come as a blow to Reeves, who has staked her [...]
Bank of England cuts interest rates despite looming inflation surge February 6, 2025 The Bank of England cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, even though rate-setters expect to see a significant rise in inflation over the coming year. Seven members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) backed the decision, while two – Swati Dhingra and Catherine Mann – voted for a larger 50 basis [...]
Is Reeves heading for a fiscal car crash? February 6, 2025 Rachel Reeves has a deep respect for officialdom and institutions and was aghast at the way Liz Truss simply ignored the Office for Budget Responsibility when putting together her doomed ‘mini Budget.’ Cast your mind back to the early days of the Truss administration (which, as it turned out, weren’t very far from the final [...]
Panmure Liberum: Bank of England to cut interest rates six times in 2025 February 5, 2025 Simon French, head of research at Panmure Liberum, expects the Bank to shift to a faster pace of rate cuts later in 2025, meaning the Bank Rate would drop to as low as 3.25 per cent.
Tax or cut? Rachel Reeves faces fiscal headache before OBR forecasts February 5, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish its latest assessment of the UK economy on 26 March.
UK economy: Services firms’ new orders fall for first time in over a year February 5, 2025 The survey showed that incoming work for services firms decreased in January, ending a 14-month period of continuous growth.
CBI boss: ‘Not realistic or right’ to decouple from China February 5, 2025 Rain Newton-Smith, head of the UK’s leading business group, will urge the government to ignore the “siren call of protectionism” amid mounting tensions in the global economy. In a speech set to be delivered later today, the chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will call on the government to forge deeper ties [...]