US retail sales predicted to have fallen – New York Report February 8, 2015 RETAIL sales figures for January are likely to be the highlight for the economic week in the US. Economists expect the sales to have dipped by around 0.5 per cent over January, following a fall of 0.9 per cent in December. A preliminary reading on US consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is due [...]
Consumers set for a win-win in 2015 as competition pushes down prices February 3, 2015 Food prices have fallen by the steepest amount on record, figures released today show. Food prices dropped by 0.5 per cent year-on-year in January, down from 0.1 growth in December, according to data released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Meanwhile, overall shop prices saw deflation for the 21st month in a row. Shop prices [...]
Cost of living to drop as UK gets good deflation February 3, 2015 Prices in the UK are set to fall, top economists said yesterday, giving British workers a break after years of low wage rises. Falling oil and food prices are expected to give a welcome boost to shoppers. Official data should show prices falling 0.3 per cent in the 12 months to March and 0.1 [...]
Eurozone slips further into deflation January 30, 2015 The Eurozone slipped further into deflation in January, with inflation falling to -0.6 per cent, down from -0.2 per cent in December. The figure is a record low for the bloc, and worse than analysts had feared: they had expected a fall of -0.5 per cent. Of course, the fall was, in part, caused by [...]
Who are the UK’s happiest and unhappiest workers? January 26, 2015 A new survey released today by the jobs search engine Adzuna has revealed which workers are the most and least satisfied with their pay packets. After years of stagnation and rising prices, some workers have been feeling the pinch more than others. Those most likely to be dissatisfied are workers in the retail sector followed [...]
Is the EY Item Club right to predict that UK growth will significantly accelerate in 2015? January 19, 2015 Mark Gregory, EY’s chief economist, says Yes We believe growth will accelerate in 2015, largely due to income growth. The UK consumer has been lashed by rising fuel and food prices for so long, but is now emerging as the major beneficiary. Low inflation combined with cheaper commodity prices, as a result of falling food, [...]
Consumers win with rise in jobs and earnings – London week ahead January 18, 2015 UNEMPLOYMENT is falling while earnings are rising, figures out this week are expected to show, sending good news for consumers. Data due out on Wednesday is likely to show the labour market continuing to strengthen. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “We expect claimant count to have fallen by 25,000 in December to stand [...]
Inflation has fallen below target: Should the UK be worried? January 13, 2015 Lower price rises are a boost for the UK but something to be feared in Europe. Why target inflation? Inflation is the increase in average prices in the economy over a period of time – normally a year. It is calculated by looking at a typical basket of goods, and seeing how the price [...]
Forget howls of deflation anguish: UK inflation at 0.5 per cent is very welcome January 13, 2015 UK inflation is now more than one percentage point below the official target for the first time since the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was established in 1997. What does this tell us about the outlook for the British economy? If past precedent had been followed, we could have seen the views of the MPC on [...]
Mark Carney says deflation is possible and wouldn’t be a problem, refuses to be tied to date for interest rate hike January 13, 2015 Mark Carney has tonight refused to rule out the UK entering deflation after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed the Consumer Price Index slowed to just 0.5 per cent in December. Speaking to ITV, the governor of the Bank of England said that deflation was possible “in a given month on a year-on-year [...]