Bottoms up! March 20, 2019 | City Talk If an investor is specifically looking for reasons not to invest, he or she will always find them. Indeed, for one reason or another, it has been said that “now is the most difficult time to invest”, in perpetuity! At present, such reasons are in ample supply – geopolitical concerns, populism, punchy valuations, a lack [...]
UK manufacturing output growth slumps to weakest level since May 2018, survey reveals March 20, 2019 Manufacturing output growth in Britain over the past three months was at its weakest level since May 2018, with businesses pointing the finger at Brexit, a new survey has shown. However, companies reported that their export order books grew compared to the three months to February and remain above the long term average, according to the [...]
Inflation edges up from two-year low as food and alcohol prices rise March 20, 2019 The UK inflation rate edged up from two-year lows last month as food and alcohol prices rose. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 1.9 per cent in February, up from 1.8 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read more: UK inflation falls close to a two-year low Rising [...]
DEBATE: Will the UK’s strong employment landscape be able to withstand the shock of a no-deal Brexit? March 20, 2019 Will the UK’s strong employment landscape be able to withstand the shock of a no-deal Brexit? Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library, says YES. While there’s no guarantee that the jobs boom will last if we came crashing out of the EU, the labour market has stood strong in the face of uncertainty [...]
Emojis are a better metric for national wellbeing than traditional data methods March 20, 2019 HMRC’s programme to make tax digital continues to roll out. Anyone with a small business will know about the imminent deadline of 1 April, when VAT returns become digital. Quick to seize an opportunity, several companies have developed software to ease the task. The digitisation of tax raises the wider issue of whether technology will [...]
Wages up across Europe despite gloomy economic climate March 19, 2019 Wages across the European Union grew an average of three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018, while Eurozone wages grew by 2.3 per cent, official statistics today showed. Hourly wages in the UK grew by 3.4 per cent quarter on quarter, the most of the EU’s major economies, figures from Eurostat, the EU’s [...]
Business investment could take years to bounce back from Brexit, says top economist March 19, 2019 One of Britain’s top economists has said the UK's slowdown in business investment is attributable to Brexit and warned that it may only bounce back gradually over several years. Yet Brexit has only played a small part in Britain’s sluggish productivity growth, Sir Charlie Bean, speaking as a committee member of the Office for Budget [...]
Gold, the Federal Reserve, and the dollar – what’s driving up precious metal prices? March 19, 2019 Gold has been making a comeback. After a long period with little activity last year, the precious metal’s value has risen as stock markets have struggled and fallen. Combine the volatility of equities with the increase in geopolitical fears, and many investors are re-evaluating whether to increase the amount of gold in their portfolios. The [...]
Employment rate jumps to record high as labour market shrugs off Brexit concerns March 19, 2019 The UK’s employment rate soared to a new record high today and unemployment fell to a fresh low as the labour market shrugged off Brexit concerns. The employment rate hit 76.1 per cent for November 2018 to January 2019, Office for National Statistics data revealed today, to a new record of 32.7m people – 473,000 higher [...]
We don’t need to break up big tech to make a better internet – we just need more competition March 19, 2019 Last week saw the release of the government-commissioned Furman Review into digital competition. The commission, chaired by former Obama administration chief economic adviser Jason Furman, found that Google, Amazon, and Facebook don’t face enough competition. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the recent attention on tech giants’ business models by governments across the world. [...]