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Pay growth is stronger than expected, underlining dilemma over when to cut interest ratesBusiness live – latest updatesThe number of people out of work rose by more than expected in February, raising concerns that employers are beginning to lay off staff in response to high interest rates.The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate increased to 4.2% in February from 3.9%, well above...

February growth of 0.1% comes despite construction and retail being hit by wet start to yearBusiness live – latest updatesBritain’s economy has taken a step closer to exiting recession as official figures showed growth continued in February despite a washout month for construction and retail after one of the wettest starts to a year on record.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic...

In annual letter to investors, Jamie Dimon warns ‘wars in Ukraine and Middle East could become far worse’The boss of the US bank JP Morgan has warned that the world could be facing the most dangerous moment since the second world war, putting lives and economic growth at risk.In his annual letter to investors, Jamie Dimon said the world had been “generally on a...

Risk of declining consumption, house price falls and defaults as tighter policy finally has impactBusiness live – latest updatesThe high proportion of UK homeowners on fixed-rate mortgages means the Bank of England should be wary of keeping interest rates too high for too long, the International Monetary Fund has warned.The IMF said many borrowers had been sheltered until now from the impact of higher...

As the organisation’s anniversary nears, borders around the world are closing againWhen trade ministers gathered in the Moroccan city of Marrakech 30 years ago this month to sign the agreement creating the World Trade Organization (WTO), the mood was celebratory. The Berlin Wall had come down only recently, communism had collapsed, and there was optimistic talk of how the body would prise open new...

Study shows delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat still popular after pandemic boom in ordersDelivery app riders pedalling through cities and tailbacks at drive-throughs were familiar signs of Britain’s hunger for takeaway food at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Now a study suggests it became an enduring habit.After a boom in orders on Deliveroo, Just Eat and other platforms by locked-down...

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Disney faces criticism over alleged leaking of shareholder vote resultsEurozone inflation fell unexpectedly in March, adding to the case for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.Consumer prices rose by 2.4% in the year to March, down from the 2.6% rate in February, according to statistics office Eurostat. That was below the...

Latest estimate from ONS says GDP declined by 0.3% in final quarter of 2023Business live – latest updatesOfficial figures have confirmed that the UK economy went into recession at the end of last year, after the latest estimate found it contracted in the last two quarters of 2023.In a blow to the government’s economic standing, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy,...

The Israeli-American’s first book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, was a worldwide bestseller with revolutionary ideas about human error and biasDaniel Kahneman, a psychologist who pioneered theories in behavioural economics that heavily influenced the discipline, and won him a Nobel prize, has died at age 90.Kahneman, who wrote bestselling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, argued against the notion that people’s behaviour is rooted in a...

Resolution Foundation points to legacy of Covid as it warns that near-record 2.7m people are too ill to workBritain is going through the longest sustained rise in the number of working-age adults who are too sick to work since the 1990s, according to a report warning that a benefits crackdown is unlikely to solve the country’s jobless crisis.The Resolution Foundation said economic inactivity due...

Shadow chancellor will tell high-profile financial audience that ‘mission-led’ governments must take a lead in turbulent timesThe shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will pledge to embark on a “decade of renewal” if Labour is returned to power at the next election.Speaking at the annual Mais lecture in London on Tuesday, Reeves will tell an audience of bankers and financial executives that she will create a...

Pharmacies, banks and pubs retreat from town and city centres knocked by failure of Wilko last yearAlmost 5,000 more chain stores were left empty last year – a rate of about 14 closures a day – as high streets were hurt by the failure of Wilko and the retreat of banks and pubs.Pharmacies were the biggest loser with 787 chain outlets disappearing – although...

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as exchange-traded funds help biggest cryptocurrency rallyThe European Commission’s use of Microsoft email and office software broke its own privacy rules, an EU privacy watchdog has ruled.Microsoft’s software transferred personal data outside the EU, breaching privacy rules, according to the European Data Protection Supervisor. Continue reading...

The PM’s admiration for Washington’s economic model may backfire amid looming US banking and stock market disastersOne of the consistent themes of the Conservative economic narrative is an admiration for the US and its ability to grow quickly. The way it has bounced back from the pandemic and how it has ridden out the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should serve as a...

David Willetts suggests policy would help spread wealth among millennials amid deepening inequalitiesMinisters should hand all 30-year-olds a £10,000 “citizens inheritance” amid fears a £1.5tn wealth transfer to millennials will deepen inequalities, a Conservative peer has urged.David Willetts, who leads the Intergenerational Centre thinktank, called for the next government to implement a major new policy to spread wealth in Britain. Continue reading...

Analysts say figures give chancellor slightly more leeway for tax cuts before general electionBusiness live – latest updatesJeremy Hunt has been provided with a boost after the latest set of figures for government borrowing showed the UK running its largest monthly budget surplus since modern records began more than 30 years ago.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that, despite the weakness...

Beijing must be more ready to support countries facing distress, says deputy chief economistChina holds the key to speeding up debt relief and ending the “silent crisis” that is holding back attempts to tackle poverty in the world’s poorest countries, a senior World Bank official has said.Ayhan Kose, the Bank’s deputy chief economist, said Beijing needed to be more active in negotiations to provide...

Insecure jobs and high housing costs make it hard to maintain decent living standard, says abrdn Financial Fairness TrustBritain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are leading to the growth of a precarious middle class struggling to maintain a decent living standard on household incomes as high as £60,000 a year, a report has said.A study released by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, a...

The absence of so many potential workers is taking a toll. In a literal sense, this is a sick economyBusiness live – latest updatesOn the face of it, Britain’s labour market is in rude health. Employment rose in the final three months of 2023 and unemployment fell to 3.8%. Earnings, adjusted for inflation, rose for a sixth successive month. All are traditionally signs of...

December figures pose dilemma for Bank of England, dampening hopes of early interest rate cutBusiness live – latest updatesPay growth slowed less than expected in December as workers continued to bid up their wages amid skills shortages and a record number of people with long-term sickness.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual growth in regular earnings, excluding bonuses, was 6.2% in October to...

Plunge in consumer prices has fuelled calls for a stimulus package – yet Beijing may stick to the new normal of lower growth• China consumer prices plunge at fastest rate for 15 yearsChina’s economy has gone from bad to worse – and it is only February.Figures released on Thursday showed consumer prices fell by 0.8% in January compared with a year earlier, outstripping economists’...

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Canada says UK was unwilling to give access to agricultural productsFull story: UK suspends trade talks with CanadaEuropean inflation could fall faster than previously expected according to a survey of EU economists – the flip side of lower output in the bloc’s largest economy.A survey by the European Central Bank said that headline inflation...

December deficit is less than expected at £14bn – the lowest for the month since 2019Business live – latest updatesA halving of UK government borrowing over the past year has created scope for Jeremy Hunt to make tax cuts worth about £20bn in his March budget.Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that higher VAT and income tax receipts coupled with lower spending...

Capital accounts for almost half of sector’s exports and action needed elsewhere, says Resolution FoundationLondon is capturing an ever-bigger share of the UK’s record service sector exports and government action is needed to ensure other big cities keep pace with the capital, a report says.The Resolution Foundation said London accounted for almost half of the UK’s service sector exports, with its share of the...