UK Economics Update Growth upgrade suggests UK no longer such a laggard The news that the UK economy may now be 1.5% bigger than its Q4 2019 pre-pandemic size, rather than 0.2% smaller, suggests the economy has been much stronger than we previously thought. But with the... 1st September 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Update Rise in gas prices could make the BoE’s task harder In an environment in which firms feel able to pass on higher energy costs in their selling prices, the latest leap in wholesale gas prices poses an upside risk to our forecast for core CPI inflation... 23rd August 2023 · 3 mins read
Climate Economics Update No ULEZ Please, We’re British Surveys show that most people in the UK want action to tackle climate change but many do not have the appetite to pay for it. And given that the fiscal firepower and political will to grease the... 14th August 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Is the cost of living crisis coming to an end? With CPI inflation soon to fall below average earnings growth, the cost of living crisis appears to be coming to an end. But households won’t suddenly stop feeling the pinch. We suspect the level of... 7th August 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Close to the summit, but rates to stay at the peak for a year Today’s 25 basis point (bps) rise in interest rates from 5.00% to 5.25% may be followed by another hike in September to a peak of 5.50%. But rates appear close to the summit. Even so, the Bank’s new... 3rd August 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Higher Bank Rate forecast, but peak in sight Despite the softer tone of the CPI inflation data for June released earlier today, we have raised our forecast for the peak in Bank Rate. Rather than rise from 5.00% currently to a peak of 5.25%, we... 19th July 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update How heavily are interest rates weighing on GDP? Splitting real GDP growth into the sectors most and least sensitive to interest rates provides some tentative evidence that higher interest rates are starting to weigh a bit more heavily on real... 18th July 2023 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update Banks rein in supply of credit, weaker demand will be next Rising interest rates have led lenders to rein in the supply of credit to households in Q2, but they haven’t yet curtailed demand. That said, the latest credit conditions survey doesn’t capture the... 13th July 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update The economy and the next general election To the extent that economic conditions influence general elections, and of course they are not the be-all-and-end-all, the Prime Minister may want to wait as long as possible before going to the polls... 11th July 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update The link between the NHS waiting list and the labour market The long NHS waiting lists appear to be keeping people out of work and thereby contributing to inflation being higher in the UK than in other major economies. As the NHS waiting list is unlikely to... 5th July 2023 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update BoE bares its teeth, but needs to bite harder The 50 basis point (bps) interest rate rise by the Bank of England today, from 4.50% to a near 15-year high of 5.00%, is unlikely to be the last hike given the UK’s higher and longer lasting inflation... 22nd June 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update How much scope is there for pre-election tax cuts? With less than a year and a half to go until the next general election, calls for the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to cut a range of taxes have been growing. But recent economic developments mean the... 12th June 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Why is the UK economy lagging behind? Many of the factors that explain the UK’s chronically weak GDP growth since the pandemic, such as the shrinking of the UK’s workforce and low export growth, won’t disappear any time soon. This... 6th June 2023 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update Fall in job vacancies across sectors needs to go further The recent decline in the number of job vacancies suggests that the upward pressure on wage growth from labour shortages is probably past its peak. But it’s still not clear that wage growth will slow... 5th June 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Recession postponed rather than cancelled Although the economy weathered the cost of living crisis much better than most expected, the full force of the cost of borrowing crunch has yet to be felt. And with it looking as though interest rates... 1st June 2023 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update Targeted migration could help solve labour shortages While it is a hot political potato, well targeted migration could be one part of the solution to the UK’s labour shortages problem. That could help inflation and interest rates be lower than otherwise... 25th May 2023 · 3 mins read
