UK Economics Rapid Response UK Retail Sales (Mar. 2025) March’s rise in retail sales volumes meant sales rebounded by an impressive 1.6% q/q in Q1, rounding off a better-than-expected start to the year for the retail sector. That said, March’s rise was... 25th April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Flash PMIs (Apr. 2025) The marked fall in the composite PMI in April raises the chances that the uncertainty stemming from the US tariffs chaos will be a bigger drag on the UK economy than we previously anticipated. That... 23rd April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Public Finances (Mar. 2025) March’s public finances figures showed that public borrowing was overshooting the OBR’s forecast even before the influence from the tariff chaos is felt. This raises the chances that if the Chancellor... 23rd April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (Mar. 2025) The dip in CPI inflation from 2.8% in February to 2.6% in March won’t be sustained for long, with inflation set to rise to around 3.5% in the coming months. But we think a weak economy will quash... 16th April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Labour Market (Feb. 2025) While the jobs market weakened further, there were few signs this is feeding through to slower wage growth. But if the more uncertain backdrop from the recent US tariffs chaos soon becomes a bigger... 15th April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK GDP (Feb. 2025) The surprisingly strong 0.5% m/m rise in GDP in February (consensus +0.1%, CE 0.0%) and the upward revision to January GDP from -0.1% m/m to 0.0% m/m came as a pleasant surprise. But higher US tariffs... 11th April 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Money & Lending (Feb. 2025) February’s money and lending figures provide some green shoots of households starting to save less and spend a little more freely. But one month doesn’t make a trend and GDP growth will probably... 31st March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK GDP (Q4 2024 Final) & Retail Sales (Feb. 2025) Today’s deluge of data confirmed that the economy was weak even before the full effects of higher business taxes are felt and that a high household saving rate continues to restrain GDP growth... 28th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Fiscal Event (26th Mar. 2025) Despite saying the “world is changing”, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, today just tinkered with fiscal policy. This left the impression that bigger changes lie ahead. Indeed, the pressure to raise... 26th March 2025 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (Feb. 2025) The dip in CPI inflation from 3.0% in January to 2.8% in February is a bit of a red herring as inflation will probably be back above 3.0% in April and around 3.5% by September. That and the risk of... 26th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK S&P Global Flash PMIs (Mar. 2025) With the downside risks on activity shrinking and high price pressures being sustained, the Bank of England is probably becoming increasingly likely to pause interest rate cuts. 24th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Public Finances (Feb. 2025) Although it will have no impact on the fiscal update next week, the significant overshoot in borrowing in February highlights the Chancellor’s tight fiscal backdrop. The Office for Budget... 21st March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response Bank of England Policy Announcement (20th Mar. 2025) For an updated and more detailed version of this analysis, click here. The Bank of England was always going to continue its cut-hold-cut-hold pattern by leaving interest rates at 4.50% today but, in... 20th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Labour Market (Jan. 2025) With the labour market cooling rather than collapsing and wage growth stuck in the 5.5-6.0% range, we doubt the Bank of England will cut interest rates from 4.50% today. The next cut will probably be... 20th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK GDP (Jan. 2025) The 0.1% m/m fall in real GDP in January (consensus +0.1%, CE -0.2%) highlights the weakness of the economy before the full effects of the rise in business taxes and the uncertain global backdrop is... 14th March 2025 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Money & Lending (Jan. 2025) The stagnating economy is partly because households appear to be continuing to save rather than spend, which is unlikely to change over the next six months with the sharp deterioration in the outlook... 3rd March 2025 · 3 mins read