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The Bank of England\’s new chief economist has warned that UK inflation is likely to hit or surpass 5% by early next year. Huw Pill told the Financial Times that the Bank would have a \”live\” decision to make at its next interest rate-setting meeting on 4th November. It follows recent comments from Bank of […]

Record job vacancies across many sectors of the economy may seem like good news for workers. But the reality is likely to be more nuanced. Sky News analysis has shown that despite the post-pandemic boom in job adverts, people looking for work may not be in the right places to fill them, with different regions

The UK economy grew by 0.4% in August as more people dined out, went on holiday and attended music festivals. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the services sector made the biggest contribution to economic growth in the first full month after all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in England. It said arts, entertainment and

The wave of job cuts many expected at the end of the furlough scheme has not happened, early data suggests. The number of redundancies proposed by employers in September was close to record lows. Many businesses with large numbers of furloughed workers say they have taken everyone back and unions had not heard of major

The furlough scheme closed on Thursday, with uncertainty ahead for people who have not yet returned to work. Nearly one million workers were expected to be on the scheme at the end of September, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics. It is unclear how many of those still were relying on it

The economic rebound triggered by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions during spring was stronger than initial estimates, official figures show. From April to June the UK\’s economy grew by 5.5%, which was higher than the previous estimate of 4.8%, the Office for National Statistics said. Spending on retail and hospitality surged after lockdowns lifted. However,

Most people do not believe workers will return to the office full-time after the COVID-19 pandemic, an exclusive survey for the BBC suggests. A total of 70% of 1,684 people polled predicted that workers would \”never return to offices at the same rate\”. The majority of workers said that they would prefer to work from

The number of people on furlough has continued to fall, with young people leading the way, latest figures show. At the end of July, 1.6 million people were still on furlough, the lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and 340,000 fewer than a month earlier. But older people and the travel sector

The UK economy grew by just 0.1% in July as the last COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in England. It was the economy\’s sixth consecutive month of growth, but the increase was much lower than in the previous month, which saw 1% growth. Arts, entertainment and recreation activities helped the rise, but the \”pingdemic\” kept many

British business confidence hit highs not seen since April 2017 on hopes the economy is recovering strongly to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey. Employers in England\’s North West and East registered the biggest jump in confidence, the latest Lloyds Bank Business Barometer found. There was caution among companies about inflation and staff shortages. However,