High growth small businesses created two in three new jobs and generated 36 per cent of UK economic growth last year November 5, 2014 Fast-growing smaller companies are fuelling a large part of economic growth despite representing just one per cent of UK firms. Despite just making up 3.4 per cent of total UK output, smaller companies generated 36 per cent of UK economic growth last year, according to a report released today by the Centre for Economics and [...]
UK’s dominant service sector hits the brakes November 5, 2014 THE UK’s service sector sustained its strong growth during October, but the pace of expansion was the lowest for 17 months. The services purchasing managers’ index – a survey of firms – fell to 56.2 in October from 58.7 in September, according to figures released by Markit yesterday. A score above 50 signifies growth. October’s [...]
Eurozone PMI: Contraction in French services raises fears of third recession November 5, 2014 France continues to earn its title of the “sick man of Europe” with its service sector showing signs of contracting. The services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a survey of firms in the service sector – registered 48.3 for France in October, according to figures released yesterday by Markit. A score below 50 signals contraction. [...]
Eurozone retail trade suffers sharp decline November 5, 2014 RETAIL sales across the 18 countries of the Eurozone sank 1.3 per cent in September, data showed yesterday, in another sign that slumping demand is hurting the European economy. Germany, usually the Eurozone’s economic engine, suffered the biggest drop, losing 3.2 per cent in one month, the EU’s official Eurostat agency said. It was followed [...]
Bank of England offers lender of last resort access to non-banks for first time in over a century November 5, 2014 The Bank of England (BoE) made an unprecedented move yesterday as it allowed certain non-bank organisations to access its account facilities – expanding its so called lender-of-last-resort access. For at least a century, only commercial banks and building societies had the privilege of keeping accounts with the BoE. Commercial banks such as Halifax and NatWest can [...]
SMPC votes 7-2 against rate hike November 5, 2014 OUR GUEST panel of city economists has voted strongly in favour of keeping the Bank of England’s policy rate at its record low of 0.5 per cent. The biggest concerns were low inflation – consumer price inflation fell to just two per cent in September – and further weak inflation in the coming months as [...]
More people joining labour force could delay interest rate hike November 5, 2014 THE LABOUR market may have greater space capacity than expected due to more people joining the work force – which could delay a rate hike. Policy makers keep a close eye on labour market slack as they believe it is key to predicting when inflation may rise, and thus it impacts their interest rate decision. [...]
Treasury makes £34bn in a year from London thanks to “outstanding economic performance” November 4, 2014 London's impressive growth is helping to refill the Treasury’s coffers as the chancellor tries to get the nation’s borrowing under control. The capital is believed to have made a £34bn net contribution to the public purse during the last fiscal year, according to data published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research [...]
Europe’s latest growth troubles play havoc with stock markets November 4, 2014 EUROPEAN stocks suffered losses yesterday as EU officials cut their economic growth forecasts for the Eurozone. The European Commission forecast 1.1 per cent growth in the currency union in 2015 in a report released yesterday, down from 1.7 per cent six months ago. Germany, the Eurozone’s largest economy, had its 2015 growth slashed from two [...]
Fresh food price drop set to help Christmas budgets go further November 4, 2014 Prices in shops continued to drop in October, with food inflation reaching a record low. Figures released today for the shop price index compiled by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market analysts Nielsen show that shop prices fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year in October. Food inflation fell to 0.1 per cent, the lowest [...]