Road haulage bosses warn buckling supply chains will trigger soaring prices September 4, 2021 The “perfect storm” of problems scuppering UK supply chains will increase prices sharply for households across the country, road haulage and food bosses have warned. A paucity of HGV drivers, soaring shipping costs, delays in deliveries from Asia and ongoing Covid related problems have compounded to produce severe shortages of products. Soaring demand as economies [...]
How worker shortages are cleared will determine UK economy’s trajectory September 4, 2021 You would be forgiven for forgetting we are currently amid one of the best runs of economic growth in living memory with all the negative news about supply chain snarl ups, worker shortages and soaring inflation flying around. A slew of data published this week, alongside a raft of announcements from supermarket, retail and food [...]
Labour urges Boris Johnson to create minister to handle supply chain crisis September 4, 2021 Labour has urged prime minister Boris Johnson to create a fresh ministerial post to handle the intensifying supply chain crisis. Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, accused the government of “falling asleep at the wheel” over mounting problems of scarcity of materials prompting many sectors of the UK economy to snarl up. The minister would oversee [...]
Pound rallies against the dollar on weaker than expected US jobs growth September 3, 2021 Hiring in the US economy in August plunged below expectations as the spread of the Delta variant of Covid across America weighed heavily on employer and employee confidence, prompting the pound to rally against the dollar. Figures released by the US Labor Department show nonfarm payrolls jumped by 235,000 last month, over 500,000 below analysts’ [...]
Ashmore managed assets near $95bn as economic recovery ‘picks up’ September 3, 2021 Ashmore has seen its assets under management swell to a near $95bn over the past year, which its boss has put down to the “picking up” of economic recovery. Assets increased by 13 per cent to a total of $94.4bn in the year to 30 June, as it recorded an investment performance of $9.6bn. Shares [...]
UK services growth slumps to six-month low despite record hiring rates September 3, 2021 UK services firms hired workers at the fastest pace on record in August to cope with soaring demand, but growth in the industry slumped to a six-month low amid severe shortages, according to a closely watched survey released today. The latest IHS Markit / CIPS UK services PMI survey dropped to 55.0 in August, the [...]
Worker shortages intensify despite employers ramping up hiring September 3, 2021 UK firms’ struggle to find candidates to fill roles continues to intensify amid severe shortages of workers across the economy, according to new figures released today. Latest data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows nearly 200,000 new job ads were posted in the last week alone, highlighting how desperate employers are to hire new [...]
Javid calls for two percentage point hike to national insurance to fund social care September 3, 2021 Health secretary Sajid Javid has called for a higher hike to national insurance to fund clearing the swelling backlog of NHS work and social care, according to reports. Javid has reportedly pushed for a two percentage point increase to NICs in a bid to raise funds for England’s ailing social care system. Javid’s proposed level [...]
Another Goldman banker or a much needed hawkish voice: Who is Huw Pill? September 2, 2021 Much has been made over whether the corridors of the Bank of England will resemble a Goldman Sachs office following the appointment of Huw Pill as the Old Lady’s new chief economist. It does follow a string of high-profile appointments at the Bank in recent years from the pool of Goldman alumni. Mark Carney, who [...]
Brexit: UK food and drink exports to EU plummet September 2, 2021 Food and drink exports from the UK have plummeted due to a sharp drop in trade with the EU after Brexit, according to fresh research published today. Data from the Food and Drink Federation shows overall UK exports of food and drink slid £2bn in the first half of this year, primarily the result of [...]