Road haulage bosses warn buckling supply chains will trigger soaring prices September 4, 2021 The “perfect storm” of problems scuppering UK supply chains will increase prices sharply for households across the country, road haulage and food bosses have warned. A paucity of HGV drivers, soaring shipping costs, delays in deliveries from Asia and ongoing Covid related problems have compounded to produce severe shortages of products. Soaring demand as economies [...]
How worker shortages are cleared will determine UK economy’s trajectory September 4, 2021 You would be forgiven for forgetting we are currently amid one of the best runs of economic growth in living memory with all the negative news about supply chain snarl ups, worker shortages and soaring inflation flying around. A slew of data published this week, alongside a raft of announcements from supermarket, retail and food [...]
Labour urges Boris Johnson to create minister to handle supply chain crisis September 4, 2021 Labour has urged prime minister Boris Johnson to create a fresh ministerial post to handle the intensifying supply chain crisis. Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, accused the government of “falling asleep at the wheel” over mounting problems of scarcity of materials prompting many sectors of the UK economy to snarl up. The minister would oversee [...]
Boris Johnson expected to breach manifesto national insurance and triple lock pledges September 4, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to breach two key Tory manifesto pledges next week, according to reports. Johnson is set to hike national insurance and limit the rate of uplifts to millions of pensioners’ state pensions, The Times reports. The NI increase is expected to be one percentage point and estimated to raise £13bn. [...]
Weak US jobs growth tempers Wall Street September 3, 2021 A weaker-than-expected US jobs report for August weighed heavily on Wall Street’s main benchmarks today. The S&P 500 slipped 0.09 per cent to 4,532.82 points, after closing at a record high yesterday. The Dow Jones lost 0.11 per cent to hit 4,531.09 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq provided some relief on Wall Street, rising 0.12 per [...]
Pound rallies against the dollar on weaker than expected US jobs growth September 3, 2021 Hiring in the US economy in August plunged below expectations as the spread of the Delta variant of Covid across America weighed heavily on employer and employee confidence, prompting the pound to rally against the dollar. Figures released by the US Labor Department show nonfarm payrolls jumped by 235,000 last month, over 500,000 below analysts’ [...]
UK services growth slumps to six-month low despite record hiring rates September 3, 2021 UK services firms hired workers at the fastest pace on record in August to cope with soaring demand, but growth in the industry slumped to a six-month low amid severe shortages, according to a closely watched survey released today. The latest IHS Markit / CIPS UK services PMI survey dropped to 55.0 in August, the [...]
Worker shortages intensify despite employers ramping up hiring September 3, 2021 UK firms’ struggle to find candidates to fill roles continues to intensify amid severe shortages of workers across the economy, according to new figures released today. Latest data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows nearly 200,000 new job ads were posted in the last week alone, highlighting how desperate employers are to hire new [...]
Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to step down after a year at the helm September 3, 2021 Japan’s prime minister has announced he will not run to be re-elected as the leader of his party, marking the end of his tenure at the helm of the country. Yoshihide Suga has been in the role for just a year, succeeding long-standing Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The announcement has been partly prompted by [...]
Javid calls for two percentage point hike to national insurance to fund social care September 3, 2021 Health secretary Sajid Javid has called for a higher hike to national insurance to fund clearing the swelling backlog of NHS work and social care, according to reports. Javid has reportedly pushed for a two percentage point increase to NICs in a bid to raise funds for England’s ailing social care system. Javid’s proposed level [...]