Eurozone manufacturing stuck in steepest decline for seven years November 4, 2019 The health of the eurozone’s embattled manufacturing sector remained in the depths of a seven-year low last month, with Germany remaining the main point of weakness in the bloc’s economy. Factory output showed little sign of picking up last month, with IHS Markit’s Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) hitting 45.9 in October. While the [...]
Over the last decade, central banks have gained huge influence over our lives November 4, 2019 Monetary policy, central bank independence, quantitative easing. These and many other subjects tend to make people’s eyes glaze over, and are best left to finance nerds to battle over in quiet corners. Yet central banks have, over the last decade, emerged from the shadows of arcane macroeconomic policy discussions to become fundamental to all our [...]
UK economy to hit decade-low even with Brexit deal, report warns November 4, 2019 Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will fail to boost the slowing UK economy in 2020, a new report has warned, with weak global growth and continued uncertainty about Britain’s trading relationships set to outweigh any benefits from the agreement. Read more: Nigel Farage: Brexit party will run in every seat if Boris Johnson rejects olive branch [...]
Jobs paying below ‘real living wage’ fall to seven-year low November 4, 2019 The proportion of jobs that pay below the so-called real living wage has fallen to a seven-year low, analysis by professional services firm KPMG showed today. Read more: Sajid Javid promises to increase national living wage to £10.50 This year, 19 per cent of UK jobs paid below the voluntary rate of £9.00 per hour [...]
UK public spending set to hit 1970s levels after election, think tank says November 4, 2019 Government spending is set to surge back to 1970s levels whoever wins the upcoming General Election, research from the Resolution Foundation think tank has shown today. Read more: Hey, big spender: IFS boss Paul Johnson on the end of economic orthodoxy The Conservatives and Labour have discarded the economic orthodoxy of the last decade that [...]
Labour mulls climate change finance crackdown as election looms November 3, 2019 The Labour party is considering measures to crack down on firms which invest in fossil fuels which include making the Bank of England (BoE) change its policy operations to avoid carbon bias. In an announcement which has raised concerns about “skewing” the BoE’s focus, Labour said it was also considering forcing banks to publish the [...]
ECB warned over bond-buying’s effect on stock markets November 3, 2019 The European Central Bank’s (ECB) money-printing programme risks causing significant damage to stock markets, Wall Street analysts have warned new president Christine Lagarde. Read more: Mario Draghi defends his record at final ECB meeting The message of caution came as the ECB restarted its “quantitative easing” (QE) programme on 1 November, through which it digitally [...]
WTO authorises China to impose $3.6bn in tariffs on US November 2, 2019 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has authorised China to impose punitive tariffs against the US after ruling the duties on steel and other products were illegally inflated by the US. It means China could now levy $3.6bn worth of tariffs on American goods with WTO arbitrators saying the “countermeasures” could be imposed as early as [...]
S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on better-than-expected US jobs data and renewed optimism of trade war truce November 2, 2019 The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished Friday at a record high following data better-than-expected US jobs growth data and fresh optimisim the US and China would cease their trade war. The S&P 500 rose by 0.97 per cent to 3,066.91 and peaked at a record high of 3,066.95 during Friday’s session, despite another weak reading [...]
US jobs: Trump’s economy beats expectations to add 128,000 workers November 1, 2019 Sterling’s rise was cut short today by US jobs data that beat expectations, pushing the dollar higher as America added 128,000 jobs to its economy in October. The pound, which came close to hitting $1.30 earlier on a weak dollar, curbed its climb to stand 0.22 per cent up at $1.296 while the dollar rose [...]