Economy
The Bank, the markets, prices and pay: the British economy, reported with the numbers checked.
Reform piles pressure on fuel duty as diesel hits £2 and Google Maps tool faces “rage bait” backlash
Robert Jenrick demanded Chancellor John Healey “listen to motorists” as diesel reached £2 a litre with the 5p duty cut ending in January, while drivers dismissed Labour's new fuel price tool as inaccurate.
Burnham pledges law to stop non-compete clauses “trapping” workers and blocking start-ups
The Prime Minister told Manchester's Innovation Nation Summit the Government will legislate so non-competes no longer block hiring at start-ups and scale-ups, calling it the “Bosman ruling for the innovation sector”.
Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 head office jobs by end of 2027
The proposed cuts would fall on the Farringdon Road head office and support roles through natural attrition and voluntary redundancy, with no compulsory redundancies and no cuts to frontline delivery staff.
Jobs market ‘flickers back to life’ as permanent hiring grows at fastest pace in four years
The KPMG/REC Report on Jobs put its permanent placements index at 50.9 in September, the highest since 2022, with starting-salary growth cooling in a combination that may reassure Bank of England rate-setters.
FTSE steadies after worst week since April as services firms feel fuel-price squeeze
Miners led the rebound and Ithaca Energy topped the index on its $1.1 billion Canadian deal, but a services survey showed the sharpest rise in prices charged since May.
Firms trim price-rise plans as wage growth holds steady, Bank survey shows
The Bank of England’s Decision Maker Panel found companies expect to raise prices by 3.7 per cent over the next year, a touch less than before, with 70 per cent saying the energy shock will squeeze profit margins.
September car sales hit nine-year high as electric demand surges
Registrations rose 12.1 per cent to 350,518, the strongest September since 2017, with nearly 100,000 battery electrics sold, though the industry still trails the Government's EV mandate.
IG Group loses almost £1bn in value as revenue warning rattles the City
The FTSE 100 trading platform cut its 2026 revenue growth forecast after weaker trading in its derivatives business, sending its shares down 27 per cent and dragging rivals with it.
Bank shares lose £18bn as Healey summons lenders to a pre-Budget summit
The Chancellor has called the chief executives of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest to a meeting on Tuesday, fuelling City fears of a tax raid on lenders at the Budget on 28 October.
UK growth revised up as Britain seals fastest G7 pace in first half of 2026
The ONS now says the economy grew 0.5 per cent in the second quarter, with business investment and household incomes stronger than thought, weeks before John Healey's first Budget.
Business confidence sinks to 17-month low as energy costs bite
Lloyds’ monthly barometer fell 12 points in September, with executives’ view of the global economy darkening as the Iran war pushes up costs.
Diesel hits record 199.18p a litre as Healey opens talks with US over export ban threat
The Chancellor told the BBC that pump prices were ‘extreme’ and that Britain was discussing a possible American diesel export ban with Washington, as the RAC warned prices had entered uncharted territory.
What the earnings figures mean for the state pension triple lock
Pay growth of 3.9 per cent sets a floor under next April’s uprating, but the final figure waits on September’s inflation data.
Chancellor names two new faces to the Bank of England’s Court
David Craig and Paul Nowak will serve on the Bank’s governing body until August 2030; Hanneke Smits joins in January.
Bank of England holds rates at 3.75% as three policymakers vote for a rise
A 6-3 split on the Monetary Policy Committee kept Bank Rate on hold, with the minority favouring an increase to 4 per cent against inflation running at 3.1 per cent.
Inflation climbs to 3.1% as fuel and transport costs bite
Consumer prices rose 3.1 per cent in the year to August, up from 2.9 per cent in July, with transport inflation running at 4.6 per cent.
Unemployment holds at 4.9% but vacancies slide as the labour market cools
Pay growth slowed to 3.5 per cent and vacancies fell to 702,000, while payroll and survey data told increasingly different stories about jobs.
House prices tell two stories as Lloyds and Nationwide diverge
Lloyds reported the first annual fall in prices since November 2023; Nationwide recorded a 1.6 per cent annual rise. Both agree on one thing: the market is barely moving.