IMF: UK economy to shrink more than 10 per cent amid second wave October 29, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its growth forecasts for the UK economy today, and urged the government to keep spending record amounts to support a recovery. UK GDP will shrink by 10.4 per cent in 2020, the Fund said. The new figure was a considerable from the prediction of a 9.6 per cent fall [...]
Mortgage approvals soar to 13-year high as UK housing market booms October 29, 2020 Mortgage approvals jumped again in September to hit a 13-year high as pent-up demand and the stamp duty holiday fuelled the housing market despite the economy’s fragile state. Approvals of mortgages for house purchase rose sharply to 91,500 in September from 85,500 in August, the Bank of England said today. Analysts had expected the number [...]
ECB leaves interest rates unchanged while Eurozone recovery loses momentum October 29, 2020 The European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates on hold at their record low level, but hinted at further support in December as the eurozone economy grapples with a second wave of coronavirus cases. The central bank said it would “recalibrate its instruments” in response to the fresh wave of Covid-19 infections after its next [...]
US economy rebounds with record growth, but now faces new headwinds October 29, 2020 The US economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter of the year after the devastation of the spring, according to figures that will no doubt please President Donald Trump ahead of the election. US GDP grew at a quarterly rate of 7.4 per cent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said, following a [...]
UK economy: Experts cut forecast as coronavirus cases surge October 29, 2020 Analysts have become significantly more pessimistic about the UK economy, saying the surge in coronavirus cases and new restrictions will weigh on the recovery as the year runs into 2021. Economists say chancellor Rishi Sunak’s more generous employment support scheme will help limit some damage in the jobs market. But they warn that new lockdowns [...]
Who’s afraid of Jerome Powell? October 28, 2020 | City Talk I see charts of central bank balance sheets everywhere. Maybe it’s because I am so adamant that quantitative easing (QE) isn’t going to create inflation that I notice them so much. But then again, there is a reason these charts pop up time and again. After all, the US Federal Reserve has increased its balance sheet by $2.8 trillion, [...]
Rush to beat stamp duty rise sees UK house prices jump again October 28, 2020 The stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand have led to a stampede into the housing market, with 140,000 more buyers currently waiting to complete their property transactions than a year earlier, according to a new report. The high demand saw UK house prices jump again in September by three per cent year on year, the [...]
Forget the polls endorsing lockdowns and look at how people actually behave October 28, 2020 Economics is at long last storming the bastions of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). This citadel of epidemiologists and health professionals has for many months resisted the lessons which the so-called gloomy science can bring. In the context of Covid-19, economics is in fact a beacon of hope. This week, news broke of [...]
Retail sales fall sharply as new restrictions dampen economic recovery October 27, 2020 Retail sales fell sharply this month as new coronavirus restrictions dampened the UK’s economic recovery, according to the latest research. In the year to October retail sales dropped to a balance of minus 23 per cent, from growth of 11 per cent last month, according to the CBI distributive trades survey. Retail sales have been [...]
Exclusive: City Hall and government urged to tackle capital’s ‘jobs crisis’ October 27, 2020 The government and City Hall must work together to tackle the jobs crisis that is set to see more than 130,000 Londoners fall into long-term unemployment in 2020/21, a new report shared exclusively with City A.M. has argued. The Learning and Work Institute’s (LWI) report said Londoners had been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus [...]