{"id":1137,"date":"2021-06-30T12:02:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T11:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/?p=1137"},"modified":"2022-07-05T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T13:11:07","slug":"news-in-review-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/2021\/06\/30\/news-in-review-5\/","title":{"rendered":"News in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2018The Committee judges that UK inflation expectations remain\nwell anchored\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Last week, the\nBank of England\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), unanimously voted to\nmaintain base rates at an all-time low of 0.1%. In a statement released on\nThursday, the MPC shrugged off concerns over a pick-up in inflation, saying its\nexpectation is that \u2018the economy will experience a temporary period of\nstrong GDP growth and above-target CPI inflation, after which growth and\ninflation will fall back.\u2019<\/em> The Committee did acknowledge the possibility\nthat \u2018near-term upward pressure on prices could prove somewhat larger than\nexpected\u2019<\/em> but, taking account of all the available evidence, concluded that\n\u2018UK inflation expectations remain well anchored.\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The MPC statement was released a day after\nthe latest IHS Markit\/CIPS Composite Purchasing Managers\u2019 Index (PMI) reported\na surge in inflationary pressures faced by UK firms. According to preliminary\nJune data, input costs are now rising at their fastest rate for 13 years, while\nprices charged by firms are increasing by the largest amount since records\nbegan in 1999. This suggests consumer price inflation may have a lot further to\nrise, after breaking through the Bank\u2019s 2% target last month. However, while\nthe MPC did admit inflation is likely to rise above 3%, it reaffirmed its view\nthat this will only be \u2018for a temporary period.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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UK economic\nexpansion continues<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Other data published in the PMI survey,\npointed to strong monthly improvement in business activity across the UK\nprivate sector. June\u2019s headline reading was only slightly below the record\nfigure posted in May and among the largest in the index\u2019s 23-year history, with\nmarked increases in output across manufacturing and service sectors. Chris\nWilliamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said, “Businesses\nare reporting an ongoing surge in demand in June as the economy reopens,\nmeaning the second quarter looks to have seen economic growth rebound very\nsharply from the first quarter\u2019s decline.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Consumer confidence\nstays strong<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Data released during the past week suggests\nconsumer sentiment remains at healthy levels. GfK\u2019s Consumer Confidence\nBarometer was unchanged in June, leaving it at its highest point since the\noutset of the pandemic. June\u2019s CBI Distributive Trades Survey recorded the\nhighest net retail sales balance since August 2018, while retailer expectations\nfor July remain good for the time of year. CBI Principal Economist Ben Jones\ncommented, \u201cThe success of the <\/em>vaccination programme is feeding through to stronger consumer confidence\nwhich, along with the re-opening of hospitality, is encouraging shoppers back\nonto the streets.\u201d<\/em> <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On Monday, the new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, confirmed that restrictions\nare still set to be lifted on 19 July in England, adding, “People and\nbusinesses need certainty, so we want every step to be irreversible.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Employer confidence\nup; furlough numbers down <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A survey\npublished last week found employers are increasingly optimistic about economic\nprospects. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation\u2019s measure of business\nconfidence surged 21 percentage points to +11 in the three months to May, its\nfirst positive reading since June 2018 and the highest figure for almost five\nyears. The survey did, however, report labour and skills shortages as a growing\nproblem. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Statistics\nrevealed that the number of furloughed employees dropped to around 1.5 million\nin early June, the lowest figure since the pandemic began, suggesting that the\nprogramme\u2019s demise on 30 September may not create as large a jump in\nunemployment as previously feared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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US\ninfrastructure bill <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Last week, the US Senate agreed a cross-party infrastructure bill,\nworth $1.2trn. The\neight-year plan, including funding for roads, public transport and internet\naccessibility, was hailed by President Biden, as long overdue. He added, “We’re\nin a race with China and the rest of the world for the 21st Century. This\nagreement signals to the world that we can function, deliver and do significant\nthings.”<\/em> The advancement of this dealdepends\non the progress of a massive $6trn spending\npackage, to deliver on campaign promises such as climate change, education and\nchildcare benefits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Overseas travel update<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On 24 June, Transport Secretary\nGrant Shapps, announced additions to the green list of countries, including\nMalta, Madeira, and the Balearic Islands, from 4am Wednesday 30 June. Red list\nadditions include Dominican Republic, Tunisia and Uganda. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Here to\nhelp<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Financial\nadvice is key, so please do not hesitate to get in contact with any questions\nor concerns you may have.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The value of investments can go down as well\nas up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. The past is not a\nguide to future performance and past performance may not necessarily be\nrepeated.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The Committee judges that UK inflation expectations remain well anchored\u2019 Last week, the Bank of England\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), unanimously voted to maintain base rates at an all-time low of 0.1%. In a statement released on Thursday, the MPC shrugged off concerns over a pick-up in inflation, saying its expectation is that \u2018the economy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32,112],"tags":[],"hd_content_source":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1140,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1137\/revisions\/1140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1137"},{"taxonomy":"hd_content_source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hd_content_source?post=1137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}