UK Economy – What’s Been Happening
Kath went to the Manchester Monetary Policy Report Briefing last week and has pulled together a quick summary of how the UK economy has been performing.
- UK GDP growth slowed last year, with inflation rates being below the 2% target
- This was caused by investment being weak due to uncertainty of Brexit and lower global growth
- There are early signs growth has stabilised and is picking up again
- Demand for goods reduced, but this is beginning to soften post-election – still negative but starting to show signs of improvement
- Inflation fell due to the reduction of utility bills and slow growth
- The value of sterling has improved which has put downward pressure on inflation
- Predict modest productivity growth over the next 3 years
- Currently Manufacturing and Finance sectors dragging down productivity growth because of Brexit contingency planning
- Consumer confidence is beginning to increase but not considerately
- The labour market has tightened
- Firms are labour hoarding and not utilising capital
- Unemployment rate low and stable
- Little spare capacity for unemployment
You can read the full report here.