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Resurgence in activity unlikely to last Note: We’ll be discussing the UK’s economic, housing market and policy outlook in light of the BoE’s June rate decision in an online briefing on 22nd June at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST . Register now . The 0.2% m/m rise in …
14th June 2023
Reacceleration in wage growth supports the case for further rate hikes Note: We’ll be discussing the Fed and ECB June decisions and previewing the Bank of England's upcoming meeting in a briefing at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST on 15 th June. Register here . The …
13th June 2023
Higher interest rates start to weigh more heavily on bank lending While the £7.3bn rebound in total UK bank deposits in April followed the £16.1bn decline in March and suggests that concerns over the stability of UK banks have faded, the more interesting …
1st June 2023
Improved outlook for retailers, but higher interest rates to restrain spending The 0.5% m/m rise in retail sales volumes in April suggests that higher interest rates are not yet taking a toll on spending. While the worst of the declines in retail sales …
26th May 2023
BoE will need to work harder to conquer inflation Note: We’ll be discussing the UK April CPI report in a briefing at 10:00 BST/17:00 SGT on 24 th May. Register here. The Bank of England won’t be able to ignore the smaller-than-expected fall in CPI …
24th May 2023
Note: We’ll be discussing the UK April CPI report in a briefing at 10:00 BST/17:00 SGT on 24 th May. Register here. Stronger activity supporting domestic price pressures May’s PMIs suggest that economic growth is being supported by the services sector …
23rd May 2023
UK Drop-In (24th May): Join our UK team for a 20-minute online briefing on the implications of April’s CPI inflation release at 10:00 BST on Wednesday, 24th May. Register Now . Shaky start to the new fiscal year won’t prevent pre-election splurge April’s …
Cooling labour market eases some pressure on BoE to raise rates further The labour market loosened by a bit more than the Bank of England expected in March. That may alleviate some pressure on the Bank to raise rates above 4.50% at the next policy meeting …
16th May 2023
Still no recession, but economic growth soggy The news that the economy contracted by 0.3% m/m in March and grew by just 0.1% q/q in Q1 as a whole (consensus +0.1% q/q, Bank of England 0.0% q/q, CE +0.1% q/q) suggests that lower real household incomes …
12th May 2023
Decline in bank deposits doesn’t look like a bank run March’s money and credit data showed that the collapse of the US bank SVB and the takeover of Credit Suisse in early March triggered a small withdrawal of funds from the overall UK banking system. …
4th May 2023
More wiggle room for the Chancellor The news that total borrowing in 2022/23 was £13.2bn lower than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted only a month ago provides the Chancellor with more wiggle room to cut taxes and/or raise spending …
25th April 2023
Resilience in economic activity continues into Q2 April’s flash PMIs suggest the economy is still proving resilient to the dual drags of high inflation and high interest rates going into Q2. That, alongside evidence suggesting that domestic inflationary …
21st April 2023
Despite soggy sales, outlook for retailers a bit sunnier than it was Underlying retail sales volumes aren’t as soggy as the 0.9% m/m drop in March suggests as some of that fall was due to the unusually wet weather. The further rebound in consumer …
Fight against inflation is lasting longer than expected Plunging energy price inflation will soon drag down CPI inflation more significantly, but the stubbornness of core inflation suggests that the fight against inflation is lasting longer than the Bank …
19th April 2023
Wage growth eases further, but slowly The labour market became a bit less tight in February and wage growth continued to ease, albeit slowly. That leaves the Bank of England with a tough call on whether to raise interest rates further. Tomorrow’s release …
18th April 2023
Bank of England may yet need to generate a recession The stagnation in real GDP in February means the economy probably avoided recession in Q1. But it also increases the chances that the Bank of England will need to raise interest rates further to …
13th April 2023
Recession still to come this year as resilience recedes The final Q4 2022 GDP data suggested the economy was even more resilient in 2022 than we previously thought, as the government absorbed some of the hit to households from high inflation. But we …
31st March 2023
Higher interest rates continue to hurt housing more than consumer credit February’s money and credit data suggest that higher interest rates were a further drag on lending in February, particularly in the housing market. That’s before the effects of the …
29th March 2023
Fading domestic price pressures could mean yesterday’s rate hike is the last The flash PMIs suggest the economy’s strong start to the year was sustained in March. But with the full drag from high interest rates yet to be felt, our hunch is still that …
24th March 2023
Too soon to conclude February’s rebound will be sustained The further rebound in retail sales volumes in February suggests the recent resilience in activity hasn’t yet faded. But we doubt this will last as the drag on activity from higher interest rates …
Reacceleration in inflation supports the case for another rate hike The reacceleration in CPI inflation in February may be enough to tilt the Bank of England towards raising interest rates from 4.00% to 4.25% tomorrow despite the recent turmoil in the …
22nd March 2023
Pre-election tax cuts in prospect, but risks to the fiscal outlook growing Despite February’s worse-than-expected public finances figures, we still think the Chancellor may have more headroom to cut taxes/raise spending later this year. But the big risk …
21st March 2023
Wage growth eases despite labour market remaining tight The labour market remained tight in January. Even so, the Bank of England will breathe a sigh of relief as wage growth is easing. Together with the collapse of a couple of US banks having tightened …
14th March 2023
January’s strength won’t prevent contraction in GDP in Q1 The 0.3% m/m rise in real GDP in January (consensus +0.1% m/m, CE +0.4% m/m) will raise hopes that the economy will escape a recession in 2023 and will increase calls for the Chancellor to splash …
10th March 2023
Higher interest rates hurt housing, but other borrowing remains strong While January’s money and credit figures suggest that higher interest rates are continuing to act as a drag on the housing market, they appear to be having less influence in other …
1st March 2023
PMIs suggest activity rebounded in February, but we doubt it will last The sharp rebound in the flash UK composite PMI in February suggests that the economy remained resilient to the dual drags from high inflation and high interest rates at the start of …
21st February 2023
Tighter fiscal policy probably still on its way despite borrowing undershoot January’s public finances figures suggest the Chancellor will have scope for some giveaways in his Budget on 15 th March. But with the OBR poised to slash its medium-term GDP …
Too soon to conclude that retail is coming out of its funk The rebound in retail sales in January was better than expected, had echoes of the leap in US retail sales and suggests that the festive/new year period wasn’t a complete write-off. But while …
17th February 2023
Moderating services inflation makes Bank of England’s life easier The fall in CPI inflation from 10.5% in December to 10.1% in January (consensus and CE forecast: 10.2%, BoE forecast: 10.1%), the drop in the core rate from 6.3% to 5.8% and the easing in …
15th February 2023
Wage growth continues to accelerate despite cooling labour demand December’s labour market data showed that, despite an easing in labour demand, labour market conditions stayed tight and the market continued to support strong wage growth. The Bank of …
14th February 2023
Recession may come this year as resilience recedes The economy escaped a recession in 2022 by the skin of its teeth (£77m to be precise). But with the full drags from high inflation and high interest rates yet to be felt, we think there will be a …
10th February 2023
Drag from higher interest rates intensified in December December’s money and credit figures revealed that higher interest rates further dampened economic activity at the end of last year. Moreover, the drag on activity will continue to intensify this …
31st January 2023
Recession on the cards for 2023 The renewed fall in the flash UK composite PMI in January suggests that some of the resilience in economic activity towards the back end of 2022 petered out in early 2023. That supports our view that the economy is …
24th January 2023
Big Budget giveaways will have to wait until March 2024 December’s worse-than-expected public finances figures suggest the Chancellor will wait until closer to the next election before announcing any significant tax cuts and/or spending rises. Public …
Disappointing end to a difficult year The 1.0% m/m fall in retail sales volumes in December was much worse than both we and the consensus (+0.5% m/m) had expected. That meant sales volumes fell 1.3% q/q in Q4 and were a disappointing 5.4% below their …
20th January 2023
Inflation may be falling, but services inflation is still too strong for comfort The small drop in CPI inflation from 10.7% in November to 10.5% in December (consensus forecast 10.5%) and the unchanged core rate of 6.3% (consensus 6.2%) suggest the …
18th January 2023
Strong wage growth adds pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates Consistent with the economy proving to be more resilient than expected, November’s labour market data showed that conditions remained tight and wage growth stayed strong. This will …
17th January 2023
Recession averted in 2022, but unavoidable in 2023 The small 0.1% m/m gain in real GDP in November (consensus -0.2% m/m, CE -0.3% m/m) suggests the economy did not contract in Q4 and is not in recession. Even so, it is too soon to conclude the economy …
13th January 2023
Higher interest rates continue to weigh on the economy November’s money and credit figures showed further signs that higher interest rates are dampening activity, particularly in the housing market. This will be a constant theme over the year ahead, …
4th January 2023
Fiscal stimulus pushes borrowing to a record November high November’s public finances figures showed that government borrowing is rising fast. And with pressures from the weakening economy and most of the costs from the government’s energy price support …
21st December 2022
PMIs suggest we’re in recession, but inflationary pressures continue to ease The flash PMIs for December are consistent with our view that the economy is probably in a recession, although a relatively shallow one at the moment. While the price indices …
16th December 2022
No early festive cheer for retailers The 0.4% m/m fall in retail sales volumes in November was well below both our and the consensus estimates for 0.5% m/m and 0.3% m/m gains, and resumes the downward trend seen across most of the year. While we think …
The Bank of England can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that CPI inflation has peaked. But with activity holding up and wage growth still strengthening, the 2.0% inflation target is still a long way from being hit. As such, the Bank will still probably …
14th December 2022
Accelerating wage growth won’t make the Bank of England’s task easier Coming on the back of yesterday’s larger-than-expected rise in GDP in October, today’s news that the labour market is loosening only gradually and wage growth continues to accelerate …
13th December 2022
October’s rebound won’t prevent contraction in GDP in Q4 The 0.5% m/m rise in GDP in October was mostly due to the rebound after September’s extra bank holiday. Even so, the surprisingly strong rise could tilt the Bank of England towards another bumper …
12th December 2022
Higher interest rates beginning to influence the economy October’s money and credit figures highlight how higher interest rates are starting to influence the economy. Higher interest rates are weakening the demand for credit, especially for mortgages, …
29th November 2022
PMIs suggest we’re already in recession While the composite flash PMI improved marginally in November, it stayed firmly below the no-change level of 50.0, which is consistent with our view that the economy is already in recession. However, with domestic …
23rd November 2022
Energy price support puts borrowing back on upward trend October’s public finances figures showed that government borrowing is no longer coming in below last year’s monthly totals. And the combination of the government’s energy price support and …
22nd November 2022
Only a temporary halt to the downward path The 0.6% m/m rise in retail sales volumes was larger than both we (0.0% m/m) and the consensus (+0.2% m/m) had expected. Sales volumes were probably supported by the reversal of bank holiday effects in October. …
18th November 2022
Inflation may have peaked, but battle not yet won It’s possible that the big leap in CPI inflation from 10.1% in September to a new 40-year high of 11.1% in October will mark the peak. But core inflation may yet rise further, which is why we think the …
16th November 2022
