After a quiet day yesterday when I was at pains to find something to write about, today’s raft of UK data releases provides me with a little more material to work with. At 9.30 the latest  Q4 GDP figures were realeased.  This showed a conttraction of 0.5% in the last...

In an early welcome sign that last week’s budget was well received, thirty nine of the country’s leading venture capitalists signed a letter stating that the new investment rules introduced by the Chancellor mean ‘the UK is being positioned as a world class place to launch a new business’.

After a week full of significant UK releases including inflation, the Budget and the MPC Monthly minutes it was the turn of retail sales to make the headlines and for all the right reasons. A gloomier than expected 0.8% decline in sales was announced with consensus forecasts only expecting a...

So Budget 2011 has been and gone, but what does it all mean? The Chancellor proclaimed his budget was going to put the ‘fuel in the tank of the UK economy ‘and in a literal sense the one pence reduction in fuel duty will help ease the burden when filling...

For growth or not for growth that is the question. Budget 2011 is going to be a budget on a shoestring, with Mr Osborne having very little ‘wiggle room’ to woe a public concerned about the speed and level of spending cuts.

The CPI Inflation figures are released this morning at 9.30 GMT and they may prove difficult reading for the Monetary Policy Committee. If as forecast the figures show the cost of goods rising at 4.2%, it will mean British consumers are facing their fastest price increases in more than two...

This week’s financial headlines will be driven by the Chancellor’s budget on Wednesday. If newspapers reports are to be believed those of you who enjoy a glass of wine or a cigarette may feel the pinch - with it rumoured that 17 pence will be added to a pack of...

The UK economic news has been thin on the ground this week with nothing released yesterday and no UK releases today either. As you can see from the economic calendar it is quiet across the board with only three European data announcements to speak of today.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone falls out with their boss or hands in their notice today, unless of course you have another job, as the UK jobs market remains gloomy. The UK unemployment release yesterday appeared positive at first glance with those claiming unemployment benefits falling by 10,200, but remember this...

The UK unemployment figures are released this morning and it’s expected to remain frustratingly high. The issue is that the UK economy is simply not growing quickly enough to make any great headway into the unemployment number, which currently stands at 7.9%.