Housing market holds up well despite Bank of England rate hikes August 8, 2022 The UK property market is still running hot despite the Bank of England’s rapid interest rate hike cycle, according to research by Morning Wire House purchases dipped around four per cent in June compared to December when the Bank’s first rate rise landed, dropping to 95,420 from 99,560, according to HMRC data. Governor Andrew Bailey [...]
BoE’s Bailey and co are gloomiest central bank forecasters in history, according to Goldman Sachs August 8, 2022 “No central bank has ever published as negative an economic forecast” as the Bank of England did last week, according to a top Wall Street bank. Governor Andrew Bailey and co’s prediction that the UK will tip into the longest recession since the financial crisis at the end of this year is the gloomiest of [...]
Businesses scramble to hire workers despite looming UK recession August 8, 2022 Businesses are scrambling to fill vacancies at a rapid pace despite the UK staring down the barrel of the longest recession since the financial crisis, revealed new figures published yesterday. A shortage of workers partly driven by people dipping out of the jobs market due to Covid-19 related health issues and Brexit has intensified competition [...]
Steaming US jobs market raises risk of another jumbo Fed rate hike August 7, 2022 The US jobs market is still steaming despite the world’s biggest economy wobbling under the weight of soaring inflation and higher interest rates, figures published last week showed. America added 528,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 per cent, below pre Covid-19 levels, according to data from the US Labor Department. [...]
Week ahead: City braces for soft economy data and US inflation figures August 7, 2022 Top of City traders’ minds this week will be whether fresh GDP figures reveal the UK is already in the early stages of the drawn out recession the Bank of England forecast last week. Despite the economic doom, London’s FTSE 100 was broadly stable, edging 0.16 per cent lower to close the week at 7,439.74 [...]
A technical recession: How bad will it be? August 7, 2022 It is no surprise that US GDP growth is declining given the slowdown in consumer spending and domestic production recently. However, markets seem fraught with headline risk with the term ‘technical recession’ floating around. Analysts have pointed out the looming risk of a recession given the central bank’s aggressive tightening cycle while Fed chair Powell [...]
This week’s rate rise: Brits face immediate jump in interest payments of £1.67bn August 6, 2022 With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee confirming its base rate will rise by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, UK households face an immediate increase in interest payments of £1.67bn. UK households are currently paying £24.1 billion annually in interest payments on floating rate debt that are likely to be immediately impacted by [...]
Andrew Bailey hits back at Suella Braverman saying Bank of England did not raise rates too late August 5, 2022 The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has defended not raising interest rates earlier. His comments come after Attorney General Suella Braverman said interest rates “should have been raised a long time ago and the Bank of England has been too slow in this regard”. Bailey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If [...]
Analysis: Historic day in the Bank of England’s 25 years of independence August 4, 2022 Today was one for the history books. The biggest jump in interest rates since the Bank of England was made independent 25 years ago. A looming recession similar in length to the financial crisis. The first time the Bank has raised rates while forecasting a protracted slump in recent memory. It is a lot to [...]
More businesses to go bust after today’s rate rise as £2bn is added to borrowing costs overnight August 4, 2022 With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee increasing its base rate by another 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, UK businesses face an immediate increase in interest payments of more than £2bn. Analysis of Bank of England data shows UK businesses are currently paying £14bn annually in interest payments on their £409bn in floating rate [...]