Retail sales beat expectations as Brits keep shopping March 28, 2025 Retail sales volumes beat expectations in February as British shoppers seemed to loosen their spending habits, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail sales rose one per cent month-on-month after rising 1.4 per cent in January. Markets had expected a decline of 0.3 per cent. Annual retail sales growth came in at 2.2 [...]
UK inflation undershoots expectations in February March 26, 2025 Inflation hit 2.8 per cent in the year to February, pointing to a fragile UK economy as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Spring Statement this afternoon. The Bank of England last week held interest rates at 4.5 per cent as inflation has remained high amid escalating trade tensions and incoming tax rises. Now [...]
UK wage growth remains hot as Bank of England set to decide on interest rates March 20, 2025 Wage growth has continued to soar, new figures have revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that annual regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew 5.9 per cent between November 2024 and January 2025. Total pay growth, which includes bonuses, increased by 5.8 per cent. “Overall pay growth remains relatively strong, with pay growth high in [...]
Reeves needs to make ‘long overdue’ changes to spending, CBI says March 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to make “long overdue” changes to government spending as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) demanded greater investment in innovation. The Chancellor has previously said she is willing to “fight” for growth but leading economists have raised the alarm about an incoming recession. The CBI suggested that an economic [...]
No 10 says Donald Trump’s tariffs not responsible for UK economy shrinking March 14, 2025 Donald Trump’s tariffs are not responsible for the UK economy shrinking in January, Downing Street has said, in a position that appears to contradict the Chancellor’s reaction to the latest poor economic figures. According to the latest set of gross domestic product (GDP) figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the economy shrank [...]
ONS reliability questioned after survey ‘collapsed’ to five respondents March 10, 2025 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is under fire after internal emails exposed a sample size of employment data “collapsed to only five individuals”. According to correspondence obtained by the Financial Times, deputy chief economist Richard Heys cautioned in October 2023 that maintaining the statistics agency’s labour force survey (LFS) had “little and falling merit.” Heys [...]
Former Asda and M&S boss Lord Rose: WFH is ‘not doing proper work’ January 20, 2025 The increase in home work has created a generation who are “not doing proper work,” according to the former boss of Asda and Marks & Spencer. Speaking to BBC Panorama, Lord Rose said more working from home was a part of the UK economy’s “general decline” and that productivity was suffering as a result. “We [...]