Category: Labour markets

Weekly wrap – A letter from France

Some thoughts on why contagion from France should be limited, what businesses really think about Brexit, and the latest on the UK labour market, inflation, consumer confidence and the public finances... Theme of the Week I’m recently back from a lovely break in southern France, where we experienced all the culture the region has to … Continue reading Weekly wrap – A letter from France →

Weekly wrap – ‘clear blue water’

Including more on inheritance tax, the latest mixed signals on the health of the UK economy, the state of the labour and rental markets, and why rejoining the EU would need another referendum... Theme of the Week Few will be reading this for my political views, but I believe this was a good week for … Continue reading Weekly wrap – ‘clear blue water’ →

Weekly wrap – Government policies continue to do more harm than good

Including thoughts on the “productivity puzzle”, bond yields, monetary policy credibility, and how the government’s clumsy interventions are still costing jobs and adding to rental inflation... Theme of the Week This week’s most interesting economic story was worth a piece of its own: “Six questions and answers on the new productivity data”. In short, the … Continue reading Weekly wrap – Government policies continue to do more harm than good →

Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data

New ONS analysis shows that UK productivity has held up much better than previously thought. Here’s a quick Q&A including what this could mean for the Budget, and what it is telling us about Brexit... This week the ONS published new analysis of the key measure of labour productivity, namely output per hour worked. This … Continue reading Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data →