Former BoE governor says extend furlough scheme indefinitely May 12, 2020 Rishi Sunak should announce an indefinite extension of the coronavirus furlough scheme today with no changes to the level of pay, according to the former Bank of England (BoE) governor. Lord Mervyn King, who was the BoE helmsman during the 2008 financial crisis, said today that the scheme should be in place until “the economy [...]
Extend job retention scheme or risk ‘second wave’ of unemployment, says think tank May 12, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak should extend the job retention scheme until September and longer for some sectors to help stave off a “second surge” in unemployment, a leading think tank has said. The Resolution Foundation said some sectors would need support for longer than others and suggested the scheme should run until the end of the [...]
Airline stocks sink as FTSE 100 falls on fears of second wave May 11, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell back into negative territory this afternoon after early optimism about an easing of the UK lockdown appeared to evaporate. London’s stock market was up 0.85 per cent as it flirted with the 6,000 points marker earlier today. But traders’ enthusiasm quickly dwindled as European stocks also dropped into the red. The [...]
Coronavirus lockdown: Economic activity and optimism plunge to record lows May 11, 2020 Economic activity and optimism levels both plummeted to record lows last month due to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown. Business output across the UK fell by 35.87 points in April to 44.9, significantly below the 79.28 recorded after the global financial crisis, to the lowest level since records began in 2005. Any reading below 95 points [...]
Nonfarm payrolls: US unemployment soars as 21m Americans lose jobs May 8, 2020 More than 20m Americans lost their jobs in April, official “nonfarm payrolls” data has shown, as the world’s largest economy was battered by coronavirus and the lockdowns put in place to stop it spreading. The 20.5m job losses sent the unemployment rate soaring to 14.7 per cent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said, [...]
Sajid Javid: UK should run the economy ‘hot’ and support lenders May 8, 2020 Former chancellor Sajid Javid has said the government should “run the economy hot” and lift coronavirus restrictions to encourage growth. He also suggested “bad banks” could be created to help the UK’s lenders which are set to struggle with bad loans as coronavirus crashes the economy. Javid’s intervention came after the Bank of England yesterday [...]
UK lockdown: Consumer confidence remains ‘severely depressed’ May 8, 2020 Consumer confidence in the UK’s lockdown economy remained “severely depressed” at the end of April, although research indicated there could be some pent up consumer demand when restrictions lift. GfK’s consumer confidence index was at minus 33 at the end of April, a one-point increase on the previous score. However, consumer confidence has plummeted 20 [...]
US jobless claims hit 33m since start of coronavirus lockdown May 7, 2020 US jobless claims now stand at 33m since the American economy entered coronavirus lockdown, new figures released today reveal. The Bureau of Labor statistics show another 3.2m US citizens registered jobless claims over the last week. That is a drop from 3.8m the previous week but the number is still jaw-dropping. It means so-called initial [...]
UK firms face ‘Darwinian culling’, warns ad mogul Martin Sorrell May 7, 2020 Scores of British companies face being wiped out in a “Darwinian culling” caused by the coronavirus crisis, advertising veteran Sir Martin Sorrell has warned. In a bleak prediction of the UK’s economic outlook, Sorrell said the country was “dramatically underprepared” for the pandemic and only the strongest firms would survive. “You feel it in the [...]
UK economy: Is the Bank of England’s 2021 rebound scenario too optimistic? May 7, 2020 The Bank of England today said the UK economy could suffer its worst economic crash in 300 years this year as the coronavirus lockdown batters the economy. Yet it said it is likely to bounce back relatively quickly. Despite the dire report it stopped short of launching more bond-buying or “quantitative easing” (QE) and left [...]