Mervyn King: Central banks cannot solve most of society’s problems August 24, 2021 A former governor of the Bank of England has warned that central banks cannot be relied on to solve most of society’s problems. Writing for Bloomberg, Mervyn King said there are “serious challenges to our societies. But the gravity of an issue is not the sole, nor even the most important, criterion for central-bank involvement. [...]
Retail sales soar at fastest pace in nearly seven years August 24, 2021 Retail sales in the UK surged at their fastest pace in nearly seven years this month highlighting that the wave of consumer spending unleashed since the initial Covid unlocking still has legs, according to fresh figures released today. New data from the Confederation of British Industry shows retail sales swung to their highest growth rate [...]
Strangling capacity constraints chokes US economic growth August 23, 2021 The US economic rebound from the Covid crisis slowed sharply this month as severe constraints on capacity led to businesses struggling to scale production, according to a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash composite output index for the US slid to 55.4 in August, down from 59.9 in July, hitting a fresh [...]
Oil prices jump to pare back worst weekly losses for nine months August 23, 2021 Oil prices jumped today to partly reverse losses registered last week that saw the main international benchmarks swing to their worst seven day performance in nine months. International benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude rose 3.22 per cent and 3.27 per cent to $64.14 and $67.31 respectively. Both benchmarks marked their biggest week of losses in [...]
Eurozone post-Covid economic rebound marches on at rapid clip August 23, 2021 The economic recovery from the Covid crisis in the Eurozone continued to progress at a rapid clip this month, driven by a ramping up of the bloc’s vaccination programme allowing a further easing of pandemic restrictions, according to a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash Eurozone purchasing managers’ composite output index hit [...]
PMI: Post-Covid bounce-back slows in August as pingdemic struck August 23, 2021 The UK economy’s post-lockdown boom stalled this month as firms continued to struggle with staff shortages, as a result of the so-called ‘pingdemic’, but strong inflation pressures eased slightly. The IHS Markit/CIPS flash composite PMI dropped for the third consecutive month, sinking to 55.3 from 59.2 in July – its lowest since February- according to the latest [...]
One in three British firms to restructure business to cope with post-Brexit environment August 23, 2021 Almost one in three medium-sized businesses are going to have to drastically change their operations to cope with the new post-Brexit UK-EU trading relationship, according to new figures published today. Research by accountancy firm BDO reveals 32 per cent of mid-sized businesses think they need to alter their business model to remain viable amid the [...]
Weekend Read: Ailing business investment will dampen the economy’s post-Covid prospects August 21, 2021 The good pandemic-related news continued to emerge last week. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows output jumped 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, driven by the lifting of Covid restrictions on sectors that rely on face-to-face and social contact to generate income. The services industry – which accounts [...]
Pound drops to fresh one-month low against the dollar August 20, 2021 Pound sterling sank to a new one-month low against the dollar today on concerns that the global economic recovery from the Covid crisis is grinding to a halt. The pound lost ground on the greenback, falling 0.19 per cent to $1.3913 during morning trading, a fresh one-month low. It hit an intra-day low of $1.3909. [...]
UK consumer confidence inches down in August August 20, 2021 Consumer confidence among Brits edged down over the last month driven by concerns over the possible economic implications of future surges in Covid cases, according to fresh data published today. Research from GfK shows consumer confidence dropped one point over the last month to -8 points in August 2021. The marginal decline is likely to [...]