The City highlights its importance ahead of key Brexit talks January 21, 2020 The City has outlined its importance to international finance ahead of crunch EU talks with a report that shows it continues to outperform other financial sectors in helping firms tackle risk. It comes as a debate rages over how close the UK should stay to the EU after Brexit. Chancellor Sajid Javid at the weekend [...]
Bank of England forms group to weigh up digital currency launch January 21, 2020 The Bank of England has teamed up with other major central banks to assess the case for launching their own digital currencies, it announced today, as a debate rages over the future of money. Threadneedle Street will work with the central banks of Canada, Japan, the Eurozone, Sweden, Switzerland and the Bank for International Settlements [...]
UK employment rate hits record high as Bank of England mulls cut January 21, 2020 The UK’s booming labour market showed no sign of slowing in the three months to November, according to official data, with the strongest jobs growth in nearly a year pushing the employment rate to a new record. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.8 per cent, its lowest since the 1970s, but the number of people [...]
Business leaders call on government to lay out trade talks position January 21, 2020 UK business leaders have called on the government to lay out its objectives for trade talks with the European Union, saying they can only make investment decisions once they have a clear sense of Number 10’s position. The intervention by the Institute of Directors (IoD), which represents British company bosses, came after chancellor Sajid Javid [...]
German growth in 2019 worst since Eurozone crisis, says Bundesbank January 20, 2020 Germany’s central bank has predicted that the country’s economy grew last year at its slowest pace since the Eurozone crisis as its manufacturing sector was badly shaken by global trade tensions. The Bundesbank today estimated that Europe’s biggest economy grew by just 0.6 per cent last year. This would be the worst figure since 2013, [...]
Davos 2020: What is the World Economic Forum and what’s up for discussion? January 20, 2020 What is Davos? The World Economic Forum (WEF) is widely known as Davos, after the posh Swiss ski resort where it is held. It is a meeting of world leaders and chief execs, who gather each year to chew over the big issues facing business and the global economy. Davos 2020 is expected to be [...]
IMF downgrades global growth forecasts despite US-China and Brexit deals January 20, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its global growth forecasts and said there are “no clear signs of a turning point” for the world economy despite the signing of a US-China trade deal and more clarity over Brexit. In the latest of a series of downgrades, the IMF said it expects global growth for [...]
UK household optimism hits one-year high but uncertainty remains January 20, 2020 UK households became more upbeat about their finances in January, a survey from data firm IHS Markit has shown, with December’s general election result and falling inflation pushing optimism to a one-year high. The survey was the latest to show rising optimism following Boris Johnson’s thumping election win in the middle of December. Firms and [...]
UK food and drink sector shrugs off Brexit worries January 20, 2020 The UK’s food and drink production industry has continued to shrug off the Brexit woes afflicting other manufacturing sectors, with employment at its highest in fifteen years, according to new analysis of the latest data. However, the analysis also showed that the European Union continued to be the industry’s biggest export market, leaving it vulnerable [...]
London job-seekers optimistic after election January 20, 2020 The number of people looking for jobs in the City surged between November and December, according to a new report, suggesting that Boris Johnson’s emphatic election victory could prove a turning point for the Square Mile’s jobs market. However, the rise was not enough to outweigh the bruising effects of a year of Brexit uncertainty, [...]
