“It’s likely households will face a cost-of-living crunch for much of the year” The biggest economic story of last week is something impacting everyone’s pockets – inflation. Data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday revealed that surging food and energy prices had pushed inflation to a near 30-year high of 5.4% […]
Category archives: News in Review
News in Review
“It’s amazing to see the size of the economy back to pre-pandemic levels” A raft of economic news landed in the last week or so, one of the most prominent being the latest UK gross domestic product (GDP) statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which highlighted that the UK economy surpassed pre-COVID levels […]
News in Review
“Although supply chains remain severely stretched, there are at least signs that the situation is stabilising” As the new year takes root, the latest IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index has highlighted an elevated level of optimism amongst UK manufacturing firms. Although supply issues and staff shortages continue to hamper growth in the sector, production rose […]
News in Review
‘2022 will be defined as the year of the squeeze’ As wages stagnate, and energy bills and taxes rise, the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook released by the Resolution Foundation has warned that millions of families face a ‘year of the squeeze’ in 2022, potentially leaving the average household £1,200 worse off. The expected rise […]
News in Review
“We’re concerned about inflation in the medium term” Last week the Bank of England (BoE) became the first major central bank to raise interest rates since the onset of the pandemic. At a meeting ending on 16 December, the Bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted by an 8-1 majority to raise rates to 0.25%, an […]
News in Review
News in Review
‘The global recovery is strong but imbalanced’ Last week saw the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publish its latest appraisal of world economic prospects. In a relatively upbeat assessment, the Paris-based soothsayer predicted that global growth will hit 5.6% this year before moderating to 4.5% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023. However, the […]
News in Review
“We need to bolster our protections against this new variant” Following the discovery of the COVID-19 Omicron variant on UK shores, Boris Johnson took to the Downing Street podium on Saturday to announce “temporary and precautionary” measures to contain the spread of the variant. First detected in South Africa last Wednesday and labelled a ‘variant of concern’ […]
News In Review
“If we are serious about going for growth, then 2022 has to be a year of detail and delivery” During a week which saw the government confirm it was cancelling the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said more needed to be done to end the North-South […]
News In Review
“For all our disagreements, the world is undeniably heading in the right direction” At a Downing Street news conference on Sunday evening, following the conclusion of the COP26 Summit, Boris Johnson hailed the climate deal as “game-changing”, before adding that it sounds “the death knell for coal power.” Despite a late intervention by India and […]