UK Economy

Britain's inflation rate rose for the first time in four months in February, surprising an analysts and increasing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates at its meeting on Thursday. The consumer price index jumped to 10.4 per cent in the 12 months through February from 10.1 per cent the previous month, as high energy prices continued to squeeze household budgets, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. While economists expect prices to drop rapidly later this year, inflation is more than five times higher than the Bank of England's 2 per cent target. The central bank will weigh the need to control inflation against concerns about the fallout from global banking troubles when it decides whether to raise interest rates on Thursday. The bank has approved 10 consecutive rate increases since December 2021, pushing its key bank rate to 4 per cent. Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets UK, said he expects the Bank of England to raise rates by at least a

The UK has unveiled a clutch of measures to boost its struggling economy, including childcare reforms, tax cuts for businesses, and policies to ease the cost-of-living burden for households

Between June and November, more days were lost to industrial action than in any six months for over 30 years, according to official data

Britain is expected to be the only major industrialised country to see its economy shrink this year after the impact of Liz Truss' brief premiership prompted a sharp growth downgrade from IMF

The UK economy grew unexpectedly in November as the tight job market increased demand for employment services and soccer's World Cup boosted hospitality. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, increased 0.1 per cent from the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. That beat the expectations of economists, who had forecast a 0.2 per cent contraction. Despite the better-than-expected figures, the ONS says monthly GDP estimates should be treated with caution because they are more volatile than quarterly data. Economists are waiting for the release of fourth-quarter GDP data next month, which will show whether the British economy shrank from a second consecutive quarter in the three months through December. Two quarters of negative growth is one definition of a recession. November's expansion was driven by a 2 per cent growth in administrative and support activities, with employment services growing 2.1 per cent, the ONS said. ...

UK government ministers met trade union leaders on Monday but fell short of ending a wave of strikes that has hobbled the rail network and strained the overburdened health system. There were small signs of progress but no breakthrough after a meeting between Health Secretary Steve Barclay and health care unions. Other ministers met with railway unions that have staged months of strikes, and teaching unions considering classroom walkouts. Barclay said the talks had made progress and the government wanted "to work constructively with the trade unions. There was definitely a change of tone today," said Sarah Gorton of UNISON, which represents some health workers. However Onay Kasab, negotiator for the Unite union, said the talks had been a missed opportunity. Unions said strikes by nurses and ambulance staff planned for this month would go ahead. Nurses are due to walk out on Wednesday, and ambulance workers next week, while junior doctors are voting on whether to strike later this ..

The findings add to a bleak outlook for UK households after inflation jumped to double digits

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in his first major speech of 2023 on Wednesday, pledged to halve inflation, grow the UK economy and stop illegal immigration. In a speech setting out the Conservative government's priorities for the year ahead, Sunak focused on tackling the UK's slowing economy and made promises to reduce national debt. He also vowed to pass new laws to stop migrants from arriving on UK shores in small boats, as well as cut massive backlogs in Britain's public health service. "Those are the people's priorities. They are your government's priorities. And we will either have achieved them or not," Sunak said. "No trick, no ambiguity, we're either delivering for you or we're not. We will rebuild trust in politics through action, or not at all, he added. Sunak, who came to office in October after a tumultuous year in UK politics that saw the resignation of two other prime ministers, stressed that he would deliver stability. He said his first priority was to halve ...

British inflation fell more sharply than expected in November to 10.7% from October's 41-year high of 11.1%, according to official consumer prices data

The British economy is estimated to have grown by 0.5 per cent between September and October, statistics showed, but a lengthy recession is still expected in the UK

The poll showed 72% of the 631 companies in Britain are facing the inventory logjam tied to a lack of components, materials or ingredients

Britain's economy shrank in the three months through October, confirming the toll that rampant inflation and rising interest rates are having on business and industry. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell by 0.3 per cent in the period when compared with the three months through July, the Office for National Statistics said Monday. The decline came even as estimates showed GDP increased by 0.5 per cent in the month of October after a 0.6 per cent drop in September, when economic activity was artificially reduced by an extra public holiday to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Despite the rebound in October, there is still a good chance the British economy will shrink for a second consecutive quarter in the last three months of this year, according to Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club. Two consecutive quarters of declining output is one definition of a recession. Britain doesn't have an independent body that declares recessi

The UK's manufacturing sector shrank by more than 4% this year, a survey found, with predictions of another sharp decline in 2023

Potential output, a mixture of productivity and workforce growth, is a measure of how fast an economy can expand before generating inflation

Inflation pressures in the UK economy showed only limited signs of abating in November, with companies expecting to raise prices by 5.7% in the coming 12 months

Sunak further stressed that "we cannot simply ignore China's significance in world affairs -- to global economic stability or issues like climate change"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is working on a raft of policies aimed at boosting the UK's lackluster growth and bringing people back into the labor market, the officials said

In its half-yearly economic outlook, the OECD said that UK's economy would expand by 4.4 per cent this year - the sixth fastest in the G20 - but contract by 0.4 per cent next year

More than six years after voting to leave the European Union, the UK is facing a prolonged recession and a deep cost-of-living crisis

Millions of people across Britain face higher taxes and energy bills after the government on Thursday announced an emergency budget focused on restoring the country's financial credibility and bolstering an economy battered by soaring inflation. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt unveiled a 55 billion-pound (USD 65 billion) package of tax increases and spending cuts designed to demonstrate that Britain is committed to paying its bills after his predecessor spooked financial markets by proposing tax cuts without saying how they would be paid for. Hunt sought to cushion the blow by pledging to protect the most vulnerable, announcing that he would increase welfare benefits and state pension payments in line with inflation and help low-income residents with their energy bills. The government will also maintain investment in energy and infrastructure projects to boost economic growth, he said. Even so, the government's fiscal watchdog warned that Britons face a painful 7 per cent fall in living