Report predicts sluggish UK growth and lower consumer spending March 21, 2019 Britain’s economic growth is due to slow in 2019 as political uncertainty bites, professional services giant PwC has said, making it the latest forecaster to predict sluggish growth for the country. Consumer spending growth is also predicted to slump to 1.4 per cent in 2019, from 1.9 per cent the year before, according to PwC’s [...]
City A.M.’s rate-setting committee vote to hold interest rates as Brexit uncertainty peaks March 20, 2019 The Bank of England must hold interest rates as Brexit uncertainty looks set to continue beyond 29 March, City economists have said. The Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) will announce its decision at midday on Thursday and is expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.75 per cent. Read more: Bank of England leaves policy unchanged [...]
US Fed slows balance sheet reduction and holds dovish line on interest rates March 20, 2019 The Federal Reserve tonight announced that it will hold interest rates and predicted no hikes this year in a dovish decision amid stronger economic headwinds than previously anticipated. In line with market expectations the Fed also said it would slow the reduction of its holdings of US Treasury bonds, built up following its programme of quantitative [...]
Analysts expect outward looking Federal Reserve to keep rates on hold March 20, 2019 The US’s central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates on hold today when it announces its decision at 6pm UK time, with analysts predicting limited market reaction. Analysts also expect the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to give a date by which it will have ended “winding down” of its balance sheet. [...]
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 [...]