Identifying politicians’ role in inflation surge is better than tweaking BoE mandate August 15, 2022 Understanding how much of the blame politicians should carry for inflation surging far above the Bank of England’s two per cent target would be “a better strategy” than tweaking its mandate, a top City economist said today. In a note, Paul Donovan, chief economist at investment bank UBS, said the UK’s inflation shock has been [...]
Strong consumer spending boosts Japan economy, but GDP misses forecasts August 15, 2022 A slowdown in the spread of virus cases and a sharp rise in consumer spending has boosted Japan’s economy, new figures published today showed. Output in the world’s third biggest economy jumped 2.2 per cent in the three months to June, up from a small 0.1 per cent rise in the first quarter of this [...]
China economy wilts under weight of ‘zero Covid’ restrictions and soft demand August 15, 2022 Strict adherence to blunt restrictions on daily life to deal with Covid-19 outbreaks is sending a chill through the Chinese economy, a raft of data released today showed. Beijing’s blanket lockdowns across some of the country’s economic powerhouses, including Shanghai, one of the world’s top trade hubs, are weighing on output. Retail sales growth in [...]
Why August Is Actually A Good Month To Find A Job August 15, 2022 Your mind might be at the beach even if your body is firmly at your desk: August is the laziest of the summer months, and with record-breaking UK temperatures this season – a new record-high temperature of 40.3°C was set at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on 28th July – the heatwave has continued with parts of the [...]
Bank of England ramps up staff bonus pool by £1.3m despite inflation surge August 15, 2022 The Bank of England handed out an average bonus of just over £5,400 to staff despite inflation expected to rise to more than six times the monetary authority’s target. The monetary authority upped its bonus pool by around £1.3m over the last year to £23.3m, according to figures obtained by The Observer through a freedom [...]
Firms scramble to hire workers despite recession jitters August 15, 2022 Businesses are still scrambling to hire staff despite experts forecasting the UK will drop into a drawn-out recession at the end of this year, a new survey published today reveals. Over seven in 10 firms intend to boost staff levels over the next three months, while just over one in 10 employers expect to cut [...]
Week ahead: City shapes up for possible double-digit inflation August 14, 2022 The City is bracing for a week brimming with big economic announcements that will shed more light on the health of the UK economy. London’s premier FTSE 100 index notched a decent performance last week, gaining nearly one per cent to close at a shade over 7,500 points. The mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]
What the new interest rates mean for the City: ‘The UK fares worse than the EU and US’ August 13, 2022 The Bank of England’s decision to further raise interest rates from 1.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent and its two-year predictions means bad news for investors and UK residents alike. And the pain is far from over. A top City analyst expects this to further rise to 2.25 per cent in September. Other than [...]
UK economy shrinks by 0.6 per cent as Britain heads for winter recession August 12, 2022 The UK economy contracted by 0.6 in June and shrank 0.1 per cent between April and June, compared to growth of 0.8 per cent in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. Commenting on the gross domestic product (GDP) figures that showed a 0.1 per cent contraction in the second [...]