UK unemployment data: Five key facts as furlough stems job losses June 16, 2020 New figures released today showed that the UK’s unemployment rate unexpectedly remained flat for the three months to April, confounding expectations of a sharp rise. But economists are warning that a bleak picture lurks behind that headline figure as the impact of coronavirus on the British labour market begins to show. City A.M. has broken [...]
Beijing tightens controls amid ‘extremely severe’ second wave fears June 16, 2020 The Chinese capital of Beijing has put neighbourhoods under lockdown and upped testing in a bid to stop clusters of new coronavirus infection developing into a second wave. Parts of Beijing were fenced off last night, with security checkpoints set up to prevent people from leaving the city as more than 100 new cases were [...]
Watch out for too much money — and the return of boom and bust cycles June 15, 2020 Money is growing at record rates in peace time the US, at least by modern standards. The quantity of money in the US (as measured by M3) rose by 7.5 per cent in April 2020. With further strong money growth in May, the annual rate of growth of money has shot up to a shocking [...]
German economy to contract more sharply in second quarter than first, warns ministry June 15, 2020 The German economy will contract more in the second quarter than in the first, the country’s economic ministry said, warning that the recovery in the second half of 2020 would be sluggish. Europe’s largest economy went into lockdown in March, with many shops closing and factories halting production in a bid to limit the spread [...]
Chinese industrial production picks up but consumers remain cautious June 15, 2020 Chinese industrial production rose for a second straight month in May as factories began to recover from the coronavirus hit, but the weaker-than-expected gain suggested that the country’s recovery remained fragile. Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics also showed sustained contraction in retail sales and investment, showing the continued pressure Covid-19 is placing [...]
The City View: Robert Walters on the ‘perfect storm’ hitting the jobs market June 15, 2020 In this episode, Christian talks to Robert Walters, founder and CEO of Robert Walters, the London-listed global recruitment giant, about how the pandemic and lockdown has affected his business and what it means for professional recruitment in the months ahead. Robert is highly critical of the government’s messaging around easing the lockdown measures and offers a [...]
Record contraction expected for UK economy in second quarter June 15, 2020 The UK economy is forecast to contract by 15 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, a fresh report has said, setting a new record as businesses struggle to operate during lockdown. The EY Item Club had previously forecast the contraction at 13 per cent, but adjusted the figures to reflect poor economic performance [...]
How global markets will cope with a second wave June 13, 2020 Fears of a second wave of coronavirus have stubbed out hopes of swift economic recovery around the world, as the possibility of further lockdowns hangs heavy on global markets. While many countries seem to have a grip on the coronavirus crisis, the prospect of new infections in the US hinted in Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting [...]
UK economy: Five charts that show we face a long road to recovery June 13, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has plunged the UK economy into an unprecedented crisis, with GDP shrinking by a record 20.4 per cent April as lockdown measures hammered businesses. The Bank of England has warned that Britain could be heading for its deepest recession in three centuries this year. It is widely believed that April will mark [...]
We must be ready for further stimulus, says Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey June 12, 2020 The Bank of England and other policymakers must be ready to take further action to help the UK’s economy because of the risk of the coronavirus shutdown causing long-term damage, governor Andrew Bailey has said. “We are still very much in the midst of this,” Bailey told broadcasters today. His comments come after new data [...]