Steaming US jobs market raises risk of another jumbo Fed rate hike August 7, 2022 The US jobs market is still steaming despite the world’s biggest economy wobbling under the weight of soaring inflation and higher interest rates, figures published last week showed. America added 528,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 per cent, below pre Covid-19 levels, according to data from the US Labor Department. [...]
Truss hasn’t ruled out emergency cash payments, says ally Penny Mordaunt August 7, 2022 Liz Truss has not ruled out giving Brits cash payments later this year to combat the cost of living crunch, Penny Mordaunt has said. The senior Truss ally, and fallen leadership contender, today said that people had been “overinterpreting” comments made by the foreign secretary this weekend about her policy plans. Truss told the Financial [...]
US Federal Reserve’s rate hike cycle takes centre stage in investors’ minds August 7, 2022 Investors are grappling with a mix of challenges they have not faced in years. Tighter monetary policy. Sky-high inflation. Strong geopolitical tensions. These factors have driven volatile swings in asset prices. Usually in times of uncertainty, investors pile into the US dollar and American assets. And that is exactly what they are doing now. US [...]
Gordon Brown says UK needs emergency budget to combat ‘financial timebomb’ August 7, 2022 The government needs to set an emergency budget or millions of Brits will face “a winter of dire poverty”, according to Gordon Brown. The former Prime Minister today said families are facing a “financial timebomb” in October as inflation continues to climb and Ofgem prepares to lift the energy price cap again. There are fresh [...]
Week ahead: City braces for soft economy data and US inflation figures August 7, 2022 Top of City traders’ minds this week will be whether fresh GDP figures reveal the UK is already in the early stages of the drawn out recession the Bank of England forecast last week. Despite the economic doom, London’s FTSE 100 was broadly stable, edging 0.16 per cent lower to close the week at 7,439.74 [...]
Tory leadership: Truss and Sunak pledge cost of living help worth billions August 7, 2022 Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have pledged billions of pounds worth of cost of living help as Britons face down further inflation increases. Truss, the frontrunner to be the next Prime Minister, told The Telegraph she would rush through £30bn+ in tax cuts months earlier than planned to combat the expected increases in inflation in [...]
Brits’ energy bills to hit £4,000 by January as gas prices spiral out of control August 7, 2022 The average energy bill is set to climb to nearly £4,000 a year from January as gas prices continue to push upwards, new analysis has shown. Energy consultancy Auxilione warned that the Government’s price cap, which sets bills for more than 20 million households in Great Britain, could be increased further than previously expected. It [...]
This week’s rate rise: Brits face immediate jump in interest payments of £1.67bn August 6, 2022 With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee confirming its base rate will rise by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, UK households face an immediate increase in interest payments of £1.67bn. UK households are currently paying £24.1 billion annually in interest payments on floating rate debt that are likely to be immediately impacted by [...]
Truss warns Bank against ‘talking Britain into a recession’ August 6, 2022 Liz Truss ramped up her criticism of the Bank of England last night as she warned policymakers of “talking Britain into a recession”.
The Week in Review August 5, 2022 Bitcoin has been bouncing around a little over the last week, but always within its well established range around $22,000.