7 d. ago US consumer confidence hit by tariff fears; Thames Water’s finance chief leaving within days – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsOver in Germany, the number of people out of work has risen at the fastest rate since October of 2024.The German labour office said the number of unemployed increased by 26,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.92 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 10,000.“March marks the start of the so-called spring recovery on the labour market. This year, however, the economic slump is noticeably slowing it down.”One bright spot was the impressive 1.9% q/q (CE forecast 0.7% q/q) rise in consumers’ real incomes in Q4. The 4.2% rise in 2024 as a whole suggests households experienced the strongest real income growth in nine years.With consumer spending hardly rising, at 12.0% in Q4 (up from 10.3% in Q3), the saving rate remains unusually high, suggesting households are choosing to save rather than spend the bulk of those gains. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago Tariff uncertainty risks ‘significant economic damage’; Thames Water’s finance chief leaving within days – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsOver in Germany, the number of people out of work has risen at the fastest rate since October of 2024.The German labour office said the number of unemployed increased by 26,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.92 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 10,000.“March marks the start of the so-called spring recovery on the labour market. This year, however, the economic slump is noticeably slowing it down.”One bright spot was the impressive 1.9% q/q (CE forecast 0.7% q/q) rise in consumers’ real incomes in Q4. The 4.2% rise in 2024 as a whole suggests households experienced the strongest real income growth in nine years.With consumer spending hardly rising, at 12.0% in Q4 (up from 10.3% in Q3), the saving rate remains unusually high, suggesting households are choosing to save rather than spend the bulk of those gains. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago China’s Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade supply chains; UK’s 2024 growth revised higher, but households hoard cash – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsOver in Germany, the number of people out of work has risen at the fastest rate since October of 2024.The German labour office said the number of unemployed increased by 26,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.92 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 10,000.“March marks the start of the so-called spring recovery on the labour market. This year, however, the economic slump is noticeably slowing it down.”One bright spot was the impressive 1.9% q/q (CE forecast 0.7% q/q) rise in consumers’ real incomes in Q4. The 4.2% rise in 2024 as a whole suggests households experienced the strongest real income growth in nine years.With consumer spending hardly rising, at 12.0% in Q4 (up from 10.3% in Q3), the saving rate remains unusually high, suggesting households are choosing to save rather than spend the bulk of those gains. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago China’s Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade supply chains; UK’s 2024 growth revised higher – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsToday’s UK national accounts data also shows that people stashed away more of their money into savings at the end of last year.The household saving ratio, which measure the proportion of income that is saved, rose to 12% in October-December 2024, up from 10.3% in the third quarter of last year.One bright spot was the impressive 1.9% q/q (CE forecast 0.7% q/q) rise in consumers’ real incomes in Q4. The 4.2% rise in 2024 as a whole suggests households experienced the strongest real income growth in nine years.With consumer spending hardly rising, at 12.0% in Q4 (up from 10.3% in Q3), the saving rate remains unusually high, suggesting households are choosing to save rather than spend the bulk of those gains.Non-food stores – the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores – rose by 3.1% over the month. This put monthly sales volumes at their highest level since March 2022.“The exceptional volatility in rec...

Economics

7 d. ago British retail sales outstrip forecasts to rise 1% in February

Department stores and household goods led the increase, while supermarket sales volumes fell back

Politics

9 d. ago Inflation to rise to 3.2% for 2025 as OBR slashes growth forecast

The Government’s official forecaster has also warned that interest rates are set to stay higher for longer

Economics

9 d. ago Inflation to rise to 3.2% for 2025 as growth forecast slashed – OBR

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said on Wednesday that it expects UK gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 1% in 2025.

Economics

2 w. ago UK weather: Exact date 21C heat blast will end as snow maps show freezing 0C is coming

Weather forecasters reckon temperatures could rise as high as 21C in the UK today - but now weather modelling maps show snow and freezing conditions are just days away from making a return

Society

2 w. ago UK high street boost as major health and beauty retailer to open 30 new stores

Despite spending most of the last few years being battered from pillar to post, the good news for British retail keeps coming after Superdrug announced a raft of new store openings

Politics

3 w. ago Weather maps show when UK will be hotter than Sicily but one region misses out

Met Office weather forecasters say temperatures across the UK are soon set to rise and now advanced heat maps show several parts of the country could soon be warmer than places like Sicily and Madrid

Politics

3 w. ago Bond market strains intensify for Reeves as investors await OBR’s verdict

Fiscal watchdog’s preliminary forecasts based on UK borrowing costs exclude recent rise in gilt yields

Economics

3 w. ago Truth about Temu, Shein and AliExpress: I ordered the same 15 items from the shopping giants to find out what's worth buying... and had a staggering revelation, writes CLARA GASPAR

I conducted a test of Chinese retail giants flooding the British market with promises of prices so low they seem impossible.

Economics

3 w. ago Fuming shoppers say they feel like criminals when 'herded like cattle' through Tesco's new 'anti

The British Retail Consortium says theft from stores is 'out of control', costing shops £2billion a year, and Tesco is now taking a new approach to fight back.

Events

4 w. ago British fashion creators accuse Chinese retail giant Shein of using AI 'to copy and steal' clothing designs as they fear industry could be destroyed under Keir Starmer's copyright exceptions

EXCLUSIVE: British fashion is under threat from artificial intelligence that can identify popular products and flood the market with cheap copies, designers have warned.

Events