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In a sign of the times the number of people resigning from their jobs has fallen to a five year low, as workers have little choice but to ride out the economic uncertainty. So if any of you are fed up with your job or your boss, I would strongly…
After a quiet day yesterday when I was at pains to find something to write about, today’s raft of UK data releases provides me with a little more material to work with. At 9.30 the latest Q4 GDP figures were realeased. This showed a conttraction of 0.5% in the last…
In an early welcome sign that last week’s budget was well received, thirty nine of the country’s leading venture capitalists signed a letter stating that the new investment rules introduced by the Chancellor mean ‘the UK is being positioned as a world class place to launch a new business’. This…
After a week full of significant UK releases including inflation, the Budget and the MPC Monthly minutes it was the turn of retail sales to make the headlines and for all the right reasons. A gloomier than expected 0.8% decline in sales was announced with consensus forecasts only expecting a…
So Budget 2011 has been and gone, but what does it all mean? The Chancellor proclaimed his budget was going to put the ‘fuel in the tank of the UK economy ‘and in a literal sense the one pence reduction in fuel duty will help ease the burden when filling…
For growth or not for growth that is the question. Budget 2011 is going to be a budget on a shoestring, with Mr Osborne having very little ‘wiggle room’ to woe a public concerned about the speed and level of spending cuts. Of course, I would never imply that politicians…
The CPI Inflation figures are released this morning at 9.30 GMT and they may prove difficult reading for the Monetary Policy Committee. If as forecast the figures show the cost of goods rising at 4.2%, it will mean British consumers are facing their fastest price increases in more than two…
The European Commission, the ECB and the IMF released a statement on Friday stating they would pay the next instalment of the 110bn Euro bailout and are ready to extend the programme. The plan still needs to be formally signed off by the euro zone finance ministers, but there is…
Today we start on a brighter note than yesterday with the UK construction sector offering some welcome respite from the recent barrage of gloomy data. The construction PMI released yesterday came in at 54, signalling a pick in the expansion rate from the previous month’s 53.3, where anything above 50…
Hopes for an economic revival took a major setback yesterday as activity in the manufacturing sector slumped to levels last seen during the recession, mortgage approvals crashed to a record low for April and Britain was officially declared one of the gloomiest nations in the world. What a day! The…