Strangling capacity constraints chokes US economic growth August 23, 2021 The US economic rebound from the Covid crisis slowed sharply this month as severe constraints on capacity led to businesses struggling to scale production, according to a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash composite output index for the US slid to 55.4 in August, down from 59.9 in July, hitting a fresh [...]
Oil prices jump to pare back worst weekly losses for nine months August 23, 2021 Oil prices jumped today to partly reverse losses registered last week that saw the main international benchmarks swing to their worst seven day performance in nine months. International benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude rose 3.22 per cent and 3.27 per cent to $64.14 and $67.31 respectively. Both benchmarks marked their biggest week of losses in [...]
Eurozone post-Covid economic rebound marches on at rapid clip August 23, 2021 The economic recovery from the Covid crisis in the Eurozone continued to progress at a rapid clip this month, driven by a ramping up of the bloc’s vaccination programme allowing a further easing of pandemic restrictions, according to a closely watched survey released today. IHS Markit’s latest flash Eurozone purchasing managers’ composite output index hit [...]
PMI: Post-Covid bounce-back slows in August as pingdemic struck August 23, 2021 The UK economy’s post-lockdown boom stalled this month as firms continued to struggle with staff shortages, as a result of the so-called ‘pingdemic’, but strong inflation pressures eased slightly. The IHS Markit/CIPS flash composite PMI dropped for the third consecutive month, sinking to 55.3 from 59.2 in July – its lowest since February- according to the latest [...]
One in three British firms to restructure business to cope with post-Brexit environment August 23, 2021 Almost one in three medium-sized businesses are going to have to drastically change their operations to cope with the new post-Brexit UK-EU trading relationship, according to new figures published today. Research by accountancy firm BDO reveals 32 per cent of mid-sized businesses think they need to alter their business model to remain viable amid the [...]
Weekend Read: Ailing business investment will dampen the economy’s post-Covid prospects August 21, 2021 The good pandemic-related news continued to emerge last week. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows output jumped 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, driven by the lifting of Covid restrictions on sectors that rely on face-to-face and social contact to generate income. The services industry – which accounts [...]
Pound drops to fresh one-month low against the dollar August 20, 2021 Pound sterling sank to a new one-month low against the dollar today on concerns that the global economic recovery from the Covid crisis is grinding to a halt. The pound lost ground on the greenback, falling 0.19 per cent to $1.3913 during morning trading, a fresh one-month low. It hit an intra-day low of $1.3909. [...]
UK consumer confidence inches down in August August 20, 2021 Consumer confidence among Brits edged down over the last month driven by concerns over the possible economic implications of future surges in Covid cases, according to fresh data published today. Research from GfK shows consumer confidence dropped one point over the last month to -8 points in August 2021. The marginal decline is likely to [...]
Government borrowing smashes expectations but debt-to-GDP highest since 1960s August 20, 2021 Government borrowing smashed official forecasts last month as the deficit narrowed by nearly half its levels registered at the height of the Covid crisis, official figures released today reveal. Data released by the Office for National Statistics shows in July of this year, public sector borrowing reached £10.4bn, the second highest figure for the month [...]
Savers predict double-digit investment returns: is that a danger sign? August 20, 2021 | City Talk Savers today are more optimistic than at any point in the past five years, expecting their future investment returns to average more than 11 per cent per year. They are more likely to invest further, and to check up on their investments more frequently – but most striking of all they expect higher future returns. [...]
