Consumer spending bounces in January but high street woes continue February 11, 2020 Brits ramped up their spending in January after a thrifty December, according to new data, in the latest sign that the UK economy may have bounced back at the start of 2020. Consumer spending grew 3.9 per cent in January, data from payment provider Barclaycard showed today, up from the one per cent growth witnessed [...]
Coronavirus dents Eurozone investor confidence February 10, 2020 Eurozone investor morale fell for the first time in four months in February, a closely-watched survey has shown, as fears rise about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Sentix’s Eurozone investor sentiment index fell to 5.2 this month from 7.6 in January. Analysts had predicted a fall to 4.1. Sentix managing director Manfred Huebner [...]
Italian industrial production plunges as malaise continues February 10, 2020 Italy’s industrial output plunged at its fastest rate in almost two years in December, data has shown, in a worrying sign for the Eurozone economy. Production fell 2.7 per cent month on month, the biggest fall since January 2018 and far below the 0.5 per cent predicted by analysts in a Reuters poll. The data [...]
Business confidence rises across manufacturing and services sectors February 10, 2020 Business confidence rose across the manufacturing and services sector for the first time in 18 months during January. Accountancy firm BDO’s optimism index increased for a third consecutive month in January. The index, which weights macroeconomic data from the UK’s main business surveys, now stands at 95.84, slightly above the 95 mark which indicates growth. [...]
Top economist Sir Charlie Bean warns UK productivity crisis threatens capitalism February 8, 2020 The threat of Brexit to the economy is “small beer” compared to the UK’s decade-long productivity crisis, which could undermine consent for British capitalism, one of the country’s top economists has warned. In an interview with Morning Wire, former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean said the failure of productivity to meaningfully grow [...]
Sir Charlie Bean: Forget Brexit – the UK productivity crisis is a threat to capitalism February 8, 2020 Brexit has dominated conversations about the UK economy in recent years, just as it has hung over almost everything else. But over the last week or so, the country’s festering productivity crisis has come to the fore, with the Bank of England downgrading its growth predictions and studies describing the worst decade for productivity expansion [...]
What’s happened to GBP/EUR this week? February 7, 2020 | City Talk Sterling was on the back foot at the beginning of this week, but that wasn’t the whole story… After a positive end to last week thanks to the Bank of England holding interest rates, sterling was on the back foot at the beginning of this week due to the Prime Minister’s comments about the Brexit [...]
Asian currencies hit by coronavirus outbreak February 7, 2020 | City Talk While concern over the economic impact of the coronavirus appears to be centred on China, Japan is not immune to the ramifications of the disease. SGD: Ahead of a statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Singapore dollar fell to a four-month low. This came after a period of strength when it has [...]
Non-farm payrolls: Donald Trump bolstered by booming US jobs market February 7, 2020 US employment surged in January despite political chaos, handing President Donald Trump a weapon in his fight for reelection this year. The world’s largest economy added 225,000 jobs in January, non-farm payrolls data showed today, well above the 160,000 predicted by economists. Unemployment rose marginally to 3.6 per cent, close to record lows, as labour [...]
China tells Trump ‘no effort spared’ on fighting coronavirus after doctor’s death February 7, 2020 Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart that everything possible was being done to contain the spread of the coronavirus following an outcry over the death of a doctor who had warned of the impending epidemic. The death toll currently stands at just under 650 people, including Dr Li Wenliang, who had been threatened [...]