Wage pressures to persist amid tight jobs market May 24, 2022 Wage pressures emanating from the jobs market are set to persist in a sign elevated inflation may stay around for longer, reveals fresh research published today. Just over 27 per cent of workers in the UK intend to demand a pay rise from their employer over the next year, according to consultancy PwC. Brits, especially [...]
Which?: Food prices climb a fifth in just two years May 21, 2022 Prices for some of the UK’s most loved grocery items have soared over the last two years, a new study has revealed. Supermarkets have hiked the price of 265 lines by more than a fifth, with Tesco raising the price of household favourtie Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut 21.4 per cent and Sainsbury’s lifting Warburtons’ four-seeded thin [...]
Petrol retailers could face fines if they fail to pass on fuel duty cuts to consumers May 19, 2022 Petrol retailers could be fined if they fail to pass on fuel duty cuts to customers, warned the Competition and Markets Authority.
Bank of England to launch brisk rate hike cycle to tame 40-year high inflation May 18, 2022 The Bank of England will have to launch a cycle of steeper and quicker rate hikes to tame the steepest rise in living costs in four decades, according to City economists. The case for front-loading rate rises is strengthening after new figures published this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed inflation climbed [...]
Investors look through inflation headwinds to focus on strong earnings May 17, 2022 Investors dismissed concerns over inflationary pressures firming in the UK economy and focused on a string of positive company earnings, lifting London’s indexes today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed 0.72 per cent to 7,518.35 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, [...]
The City View: Michael Hewson on problematic consumer spending growth May 17, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets. They unpick the latest wage and labour figures, analyse Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey’s comments at the Treasury select committee, go through inflation predictions for 2022, and discuss why current consumer spending growth in the US and UK will be problematic [...]
Wages trail inflation as Brits brace for cost of living crunch to enter most damaging spell May 17, 2022 Brits’ spending power is being crimped at a historic rate, but is set to plunge even quicker as the cost of living crunch enters its most damaging period, reveals official figures published today. Regular pay adjusted for inflation dropped at the fastest pace in nearly a decade over the last quarter to March, falling 1.2 [...]
Governor Bailey: Nothing different BoE could have done to prevent double-digit inflation May 16, 2022 Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey today defended his performance in overseeing “the biggest test” in the monetary authority’s 25 years of independence. Bailey, 63, said there was nothing else the Bank could have done to prevent inflation surging to more than five times its two per cent target in response to a grilling by [...]
Week ahead: City eyes potentially ‘staggering’ inflation figures May 15, 2022 The City will turn its gaze to what is likely to be another tranche of “staggering” inflation data in a week bulging with economic and corporate updates. London’s premier FTSE 100 index whipsawed last week, dropping sharply on Monday before finishing the week up 0.41 per cent at 7,418.15 points. The mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 [...]
Recession dials flash red on UK economic dashboard May 11, 2022 The dials are flashing red on the dashboard of the health of the British economy. Just a few months ago, UK growth prospects were reasonably good. The Covid-19 bounce back was set to continue this year, building on the country notching the biggest expansion in the G7 in 2021 (albeit due to the UK suffering [...]