Christmas celebrations boost overall consumer spending for December January 9, 2017 Visa cardholders spent more in the final quarter of 2016 than they had for two years, according to Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index, pointing toward a solid increase in household spending. The monthly report showed that consumer spending in December was up 2.6 per cent on the year in December with online purchases leading the [...]
Economists need to start playing catch-up – here’s why January 9, 2017 Last week was something of a cathartic one for the economics profession, as the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, conceded that those who engage in forecasting need to adapt to regain the trust of politicians and the public. Since last summer’s referendum, experts from the OECD, IMF, Bank of England and the Treasury [...]
We should all be concerned by Britain’s anxious, insecure young people January 9, 2017 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” is the opening line of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859. While the words were written over 150 years ago, I cannot think of a better phrase to encapsulate the situation facing young people in London and the rest [...]
This trade expert has warned of a “catastrophic” Brexit January 8, 2017 In the week that one of the UK's most "seasoned and tough" negotiators spectacularly resigned with a dig at the government's "muddled thinking", another negotiation expert has warned of the potentially "catastrophic" decision to leave the EU. Jason Langrish, a Canadian trade expert who worked on the country's deal with the EU, has said a deal between [...]
FTSE 100 closes above 7,200 for first time ever to end first week of 2017 on a high January 6, 2017 The FTSE 100 ended the first week of January on a high as it closed above 7,200 points for the first time ever, driven by healthy US jobs data and strong performances in the defence sector. London’s blue chip index has posted consecutive record closes since 22 December, and built on its winning streak on [...]
Four graphs that tell the story of jobs during the Obama administration – as Donald Trump prepares to be President January 6, 2017 US President-elect Donald Trump will come to office in two weeks’ time with the promise to “create a dynamic booming economy that will create 25 million new jobs over the next decade.” He might struggle. So far this has mostly taken the shape of tweeting at various companies planning to outsource production jobs to other countries, [...]
US non-farm payrolls miss expectations by 20,000 in Obama’s final jobs numbers January 6, 2017 The number of jobs added in the US missed expectations in December, although the run of relatively solid economic data continued ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting to decide monetary policy in February. The final non-farm payroll data under President Barack Obama showed an increase of 156,000 jobs in the month, after rising by [...]
UK businesses and consumers see rosy economic prospects peak at the end of 2016, as confidence in Europe rises January 6, 2017 UK business confidence in the economy’s prospects increased to a 2016 high in December as Eurozone companies also saw a strong improvement in trading conditions, according to the European Commission. The buoyant services sector drove UK economic sentiment to an increase of 1.3 per cent, reflecting recent news of a rise in the services purchasing [...]
Productivity puzzle remains for economists despite UK growth in third quarter of 2016 January 6, 2017 The UK is still struggling to increase the amount it increases per worker as economists wrestle with a continued “productivity puzzle”, new official data shows. Labour productivity, measured by the amount the UK produced per hour, grew by only 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, representing a flat rate of growth, according [...]
Donald Trump reflation story continues to enthral investors as money market fund flows increase January 6, 2017 Investors have rushed to put money into money market funds, as they continue to back the story that inflation is going to grow under US President-elect Donald Trump. Fund flows into money market funds in the week ending 4 January grew to $31.7bn (£25.7bn), up from $16bn in the week including the Christmas holiday, according [...]