Wage growth falling for low-paid workers despite minimum wage hike April 2, 2025 Wage increases among low-paid workers are at their lowest level in three years, according to the jobs website Indeed, as economists fear high inflation will erode incomes. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Tuesday that an increase to the national minimum wage would mean that low-paid workers could help drive growth across the UK. But [...]
Trump’s car tariffs to put 25,000 UK jobs at risk, IPPR say April 2, 2025 President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on all car imports to the US could destroy thousands of UK jobs, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have suggested. The think tank estimates that around 25,000 jobs will come under threat as a result of Trump’s tariffs due to come into effect on Wednesday. The [...]
Are we all just winging it, all the time? April 2, 2025 There aren’t many decade-old Guardian articles that still resonate with me, but I can recall (and often revisit) a 2014 column by Oliver Burkeman. He was writing in response to the latest example of institutional failure that week (something to do with the bungled sacking of the New York Times editor) and he was able [...]
IFS director: Tariffs risk undermining ‘best case’ OBR forecasts April 1, 2025 Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has raised questions about whether the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s forecasts would remain credible should President Trump slap tariffs on UK goods on Wednesday. The OBR’s report included modelling by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in January. The IMF’s analysis did not consider the potential [...]
US tariffs set to damage UK economy, Reeves tells cabinet ministers April 1, 2025 Donald Trump’s tariffs are expected to “have an impact” on the UK’s economy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told cabinet ministers, after business secretary Jonathan Reynolds warned the country faces “a very serious and significant moment”. The US President is set to unveil sweeping – but as yet unknown – tariffs on goods from around the [...]
‘Awful April’ price hikes will cause ‘inflation surge’ April 1, 2025 Sweeping price hikes coming into effect from Tuesday are set to push up inflation, a leading economics consultancy has said, as what many have called ‘Awful April’ is set to put an extra burden on businesses’ costs. Higher costs in everything from water to energy will contribute to a rise in inflation that peaks at [...]
OBR chair: Reeves is exposed to ‘inevitable’ shocks April 1, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s chair Richard Hughes said Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s small headroom means the Treasury has left itself exposed to “inevitable” economic shocks. The role of the fiscal watchdog has come under greater scrutiny since Reeves made cuts totalling £14bn in order to meet her fiscal rules at last week’s Spring Statement. [...]
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ could wipe out Rachel Reeves’ fiscal headroom April 1, 2025 A mere week after Rachel Reeves told the Commons she had restored her fiscal headroom, Trump’s planned ‘Liberation Day’ tariff deluge could send a wrecking ball through the Chancellor’s buffer. Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has downgraded Britain’s economic growth outlook ahead of the President launching a fresh set of tariffs that could smash Reeves’ [...]
US tariffs: Businesses don’t want ‘knee jerk’ response, Starmer insists April 1, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has insisted UK businesses want a “calm and collected response” to Donald Trump’s tariffs, “not a knee-jerk” reaction. The Prime Minister sought to offer calm, as he suggested the UK could retaliate with tariffs on US goods in return, but insisted that “nobody wants a trade war”. Speaking to Sky News, Starmer [...]
UK manufacturing woes deepen as industry ‘hit on several fronts’ April 1, 2025 The latest S&P Global’s UK Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) shows that UK manufacturing’s woes have deepened. S&P Global’s latest PMI survey, which asks around 600 industrial companies about their performances, suggests that manufacturing is again in the downturn following a poor start to the year. The latest figure showed that it decreased to 44.9, which [...]