Sick days in UK reach record high of 185m as Covid-19 hangs over economy April 26, 2023 Working days lost in the UK due to people being sick have climbed to a record high of just over 185m, official figures out today reveal. The new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that Covid-19 is still having a nagging impact on the UK economy and the health of the [...]
UK workers clocked zero productivity growth in last year continuing long trend of sluggishness April 26, 2023 British workers clocked no improvement in the amount of goods and services they can produce per hour over the last year, official statistics released today show. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), output per hour worked in the three months to December last year was no different compared to the same period in [...]
Bank of England interest rate hikes would squeeze Jeremy Hunt’s room for tax cuts by £8bn, City economist claims April 26, 2023 The Bank of England could squeeze Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s room to cut taxes in the run up to the next general election if it keeps hiking interest rates to tame inflation, a City economist has calculated. Officials at Threadneedle Street would swell Britain’s debt interest bill by around £8bn if they send borrowing costs to [...]
Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank collapses flood City with idled talent April 25, 2023 Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank’s failures have flooded the City with idled bankers looking for new work, a new report out today reveals. Over 4,000 more workers in the UK’s financial services sector were looking for a new gig in the first three months of this year, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley. Available financial [...]
FTSE 100 close: London ends down ahead of Google and Microsoft results as Primark owner slumps April 25, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was dragged lower today as investors fretted over the state of a batch of big tech results on Wall Street rolling in over the coming days. The capital’s premier index shed 0.27 per cent to drop to 7,891.13 points, while the domestically-focus mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the [...]
Bank of England’s Huw Pill: Brits ‘need to accept’ they’re poorer April 25, 2023 Bank of England's chief wonk says Brits need to accept they're poorer - or risk stoking further price hikes
Did pumping cash into the economy fuel inflation surge? Bank top official says claim ‘not well supported by evidence’ April 25, 2023 Claims the Bank of England caused the worst inflation surge in the UK for more than 40 years by printing money are “not well supported by the evidence,” one of its top officials said today. Ben Broadbent, a deputy governor at the Bank, hit back at critics in a speech at Britain’s oldest economic think [...]
Jeremy Hunt handed £13bn windfall raising chance of tax cuts ahead of election April 25, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been handed a £13bn windfall from the UK public finances holding up better than expected, raising the chances of tax cuts ahead of the next general election, official figures out today reveal. Numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning showed the UK borrowed around £139bn in the year [...]
Britain’s renters are the real victims of this inflation and interest rate crunch April 25, 2023 People doubtless would’ve gasped at headlines last week about UK interest rates being on course for five per cent. Such a path looked implausible in March when Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage to UBS sparked fears of a financial market meltdown. After those events, traders trimmed their expectations of how much more [...]
Nearly every UK business struggling to fill roles amid worker exodus April 25, 2023 Nearly every business in the UK is struggling to hire staff in a sign that the country’s slimmer workforce since the pandemic is pegging back growth, a new survey out last night indicated. Some 80 per cent of 5,000 firms surveyed by the lobby group the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they ran into [...]