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 [...]
Greggs’ Christmas sales jump, as it anticipates results above previous expectations January 13, 2015 Bakery Greggs has enjoyed strong sales over the Christmas period. Like-for-like own shop sales climbed 8.2 per cent, after it put the "food-on-the-go" customer at the centre of its focus over the holiday season. For the financial year, total sales grew 5.5 per cent, with like-for-like sales up 4.5 per cent. The company's estate improvement [...]
Inflation falling after price wars over Christmas – London week ahead January 11, 2015 CONSUMER price inflation figures for December, due out tomorrow, will shine a light on to what extent falling oil prices and intense retail competition have boosted spending power in the UK. Analysts says the fall in inflation is likely to have been tempered by the fact that there was more retail discounting than usual in [...]