Brits borrowed more despite Budget unease Economics British consumers took out more in credit over November than expected despite suggestions that Budget speculation would have held people back from taking risks, official data has shown. Economists widely predicted that weeks of speculation over tax rises dampened consumer sentiment and prevented people from borrowing more. But the Bank of England has revealed that [...]
Majority of Brits think economy is getting worse A majority of Brits think the economy is getting worse, with sentiment souring significantly amid rising prices and weak growth. Nearly six in ten Brits believe the UK economy is on a downward spiral, a major jump from 43 per cent at the beginning of the year, marking a significant blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves [...]
Can you complete City AM’s economics quiz of 2025? Economics Test your knowledge with City AM‘s Economics Quiz of 2025. The first full calendar year of the Labour government has not been particularly pretty for the UK economy. The unemployment rate has edged up to 5.1 per cent, inflation rose far above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target rate and economic activity was [...]
UK economic growth downgraded for second quarter December 22, 2025 Growth in the UK economy was revised downwards on Monday after fresh figures revealed economy expanded less than initially thought in the second quarter. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) cut the UK’s economic growth in the three months to June to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent previously. The third quarter’s sluggish 0.1 [...]
Know your OBR from your CPS? Take City AM’s politics quiz of 2025 December 20, 2025 Welcome to City AM‘s politics quiz of 2025, a year where Keir Starmer said his best moment in office was walking into Downing Street, Kemi Badenoch got Northern Ireland’s voting record on Brexit wrong and Nigel Farage admitted he did not own property in his constituency. There have been many other errors, blunders and mishaps [...]
Rachel Reeves: I have returned stability to the British economy December 19, 2025 The latest cut to interest rates reflects the choices this government has made to restore economic stability, says Rachel Reeves The latest interest rate cut is another sign that we have returned stability to the British economy. The Bank has now reduced rates from four per cent to 3.75 cent, the sixth cut since the [...]
Bailey sounds alarm on AI as youth unemployment jumps December 19, 2025 AI could displace workers on a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned, as the UK jobs market shows fresh signs of strain. Bailey said the rapid adoption of AI across the economy was “most likely” to have a similar effect to past technological upheavals. “As you [...]
Bank of England cuts interest rates to near three-year low December 18, 2025 The Bank of England has delivered a pre-Christmas rate cut, reducing its central interest rate to 3.75 per cent amid a deteriorating labour market and signs price rises will continue to slow into the new year. In a close 5-4 vote that was decided by Andrew Bailey, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chose to reduce [...]
‘Chance of 2026 recession’ despite interest rate cut – follow live December 18, 2025 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England has handed Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the Labour government a highly-desired Christmas present today. The central bank confirmed a chop to interest rates falling to 3.75 per cent – the lowest in nearly three years. It comes after inflation undershot expectations on Wednesday providing [...]
Is the consensus on central bank independence starting to fray? December 18, 2025 Across the globe, leaders like Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron are challenging institutional independence and exerting their influence over monetary policy – but they could come to regret it, says Helen Thomas For much of the past three decades, central bank independence has been treated as a settled question. Monetary policy was best left to [...]