UK jobless claims soar by a record 856,000 to 2.1m in April May 19, 2020 UK jobless claims soared 69.1 per cent – or by 856,000 – to 2.1m in April, unemployment data showed today to illustrate the staggering impact of coronavirus on the economy. And the UK unemployment number increased by 50,000 to 1.35m as lockdown started in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS [...]
Traders bet on Bank of England launching negative interest rates May 18, 2020 Traders are betting that the Bank of England introduces negative interest rates for the first time ever, pushing the pound to a three-week low today. Interest rate futures contracts from December dipped into negative territory today as the money markets speculated that British interest rates would fall below zero in the coming months. Comments by [...]
UK households gloomy about finances as coronavirus crisis hits home May 18, 2020 UK households were slightly more positive about their finances in May than in April, but the month still ranked as one of the most pessimistic since 2009. IHS Markit’s UK household finance index (HFI) – which measures households’ overall perceptions of financial wellbeing – recorded 37.8 in May, up slightly from April’s eight-and-a-half year low [...]
UK economy receives fresh warnings before Rishi Sunak addresses MPs May 18, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to address MPs today following new dire predictions of the impact of coronavirus on the UK economy. Sunak is set to face questions over how the UK will pay for huge public borrowing currently propping up the economy. The Treasury boss extended his job retention scheme to October last week, [...]
Jay Powell: US economy could shrink 30 per cent over coronavirus May 18, 2020 Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell has warned the US economy could “easily” decline by 20 to 30 per cent over the coronavirus pandemic. The US central bank boss also warned the economic downturn could continue until late 2021, and there may be no recovery until scientists create a vaccine. Powell called on the Trump administration [...]
OBR chief rules out post-crisis ‘v-shaped’ economic recovery for UK May 17, 2020 The head of the government’s independent budget watch dog has said a quick, “v-shaped” economic recovery is very unlikely for the UK as it comes out of the Covid-19 lockdown. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) director Robert Chote said today that people should “expect a slower recovery than the v-shaped” recovery first predicted by [...]
US retail sales drop at record pace amid coronavirus shutdown May 15, 2020 US retail sales plunged at the quickest pace on record for the second month in a row in April, official figures have shown, as coronavirus containment measures caused shops to close and Americans to stay in their homes. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 16.4 per cent last month compared an 8.3 per cent drop [...]
Coronavirus sends Eurozone economy to worst quarter on record May 15, 2020 The Eurozone economy shrank at the fastest pace on record in the first three months of the year, official figures have shown, as coronavirus brought normal life to a halt. Euro area GDP plunged 3.8 per cent quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year, according to EU statistics body Eurostat. That [...]
When will the UK economy recover from coronavirus? May 15, 2020 The UK economy is set for its worst contraction since at least the Great Depression this year as the coronavirus lockdown brings activity to a halt. There’s little doubt about that. There is doubt about what comes next, however. Economists have made huge numbers of predictions, using an array of letters to describe the recovery. [...]
Coronavirus could cost global economy $8.8 trillion May 15, 2020 The global economy could haemorrhage between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion (£4.7 trillion-£7.1trillion) this year depending on how long coronavirus containment measures last, the Asian Development Bank has said. In the worst-case scenario, that would be equivalent to almost 10 per cent of the world’s output. Economists say the world is going through its worst [...]