UK business groups call for more help and predict a collapse in output May 1, 2020 UK manufacturing output is likely to plunge by more than 55 per cent in the second quarter as demand evaporates due to the coronavirus outbreak, an industry body has said. It added that firms are set to need more government support as the lockdown is eased. The warning came as a survey showed that the [...]
Coronavirus: US weekly jobless claims at 3.8m as unemployment skyrockets April 30, 2020 More than 3.8m Americans filed jobless claims last week as unemployment in the world’s biggest economy continues to skyrocket amid the coronavirus pandemic. The new jobless claims, down from 4.4m the week before, mean roughly 30m Americans have lost their jobs in the last six weeks as states have all but shut down their economies. [...]
European Central Bank holds rates but offers lenders cheaper credit April 30, 2020 The European Central Bank has eased the conditions on its super-cheap loans for banks and launched a new package of “pandemic” lending in its latest bid to shore up the Eurozone during the coronavirus outbreak. The central bank stopped short of cutting interest rates further into negative territory or buying “junk” bonds, however. The decision [...]
Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq drop as coronavirus ravages global economy April 30, 2020 US stocks have fallen with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all lower after dire economic data and earnings highlighted the impact of the coronavirus shutdown and subdued investors. The Dow Jones index dropped 1.3 per cent in early trading. The S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1 per cent. [...]
Tory MP calls on government to extend job retention scheme April 29, 2020 A Conservative London MP has called on the government to extend the job retention scheme that pays “furloughed” workers’ wages to help businesses hit by a plunge in international visitors. Nickie Aiken, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, and the Association of International Retail have written to chancellor Rishi Sunak to say that businesses [...]
US economy shrinks at fastest pace since financial crisis April 29, 2020 The US economy shrank at its fastest rate since the financial crisis in the first three months of the year as coronavirus hammered the country, figures have shown, although analysts warned worse is yet to come. US GDP shrank at an annualised rate of 4.8 per cent in the January to March period, the Bureau [...]
A new economic era beckons after this crisis April 29, 2020 | City Talk Current events likely mark a turning point in economic policy and the end of a 40-year spell of free market capitalism. Nobody can know how long the Covid-19 crisis will last, but I think that regardless of this it will mark a profound long-term change in economic policy. It is likely a turning point in [...]
Martin Gilbert: Coronavirus ‘multiple times worse’ than Black Monday for City April 29, 2020 Veteran asset manager Martin Gilbert has warned the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will be “the most dramatic we’ve seen since the 1930s” as he warned of “a long, slow recovery” for certain sectors of the economy. Speaking to The City View podcast today, Gilbert said that though Black Monday in 1987 was a [...]
German economy to shrink by 6.6 per cent this year, economists say April 28, 2020 Germany’s economy will shrink by 6.6 per cent this year, one of the country’s leading think tanks has predicted, as tumbling global demand amid coronavirus takes a heavy toll on the exporting powerhouse. The Ifo Institute also said it will take until the end of 2021 for Germany’s output to reach pre-coronavirus. The analysis comes [...]
Coronavirus: UK retailers have worst month since 2008 April 28, 2020 UK retailers suffered the biggest fall in sales since the financial crisis in 2008 in the first two months of April as coronavirus lockdown measures battered the sector, a survey has shown. Every part of the retail sector was hit hard this month, according to the CBI’s distributive trades survey. Even grocers and specialist food [...]