Graeme Wearden 

UK vacancies halve and pay falls as Covid-19 lockdown hits economy – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as new data shows the UK claimant count jumped over 2m in April
  
  

Empty shop fronts in Central London last month
Empty shop fronts in Central London last month Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Closing summary

Time for a quick recap:

Britain’s labour market has deteriorated sharply as the Covid-19 pandemic, and lockdown, pushes the economy into recession.

The number of vacancies in the UK economy pretty much halved in April, and the claimant joint surged over 2 million, in a clear sign that UK unemployment will rise sharply in the next few months.

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak - whose furlough scheme is currently protecting millions of jobs - warned that the country faces a severe downturn, with no guarantee of a quick recovery.

Economists predicted that the jobless total would rise, and pay would decline, in the coming months.

Energy firm Ovo slashed over 2,000 jobs, and luggage-maker Antler fell into administration, as the pandemic continued to hit sectors of the economy hard. Pizza Express made a cautious attempt to restart business, by reopening 13 London restaurants for delivery only in the next 10 days.

Fund manager Schroders warned that the impact of the crisis would last many years, hitting confidence and scarring the economy.

The World Bank also weighed in, saying private creditors were being too slow to help the world’s poorest countries.

As if it didn’t have enough problems, budget airline easyJet reported it had suffered a huge hack attack.

Goodnight. GW

Back in Washington, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has declared that people who refuse to return to work during the Covid-19 pandemic should lose the right to unemployment benefit.

Mnuchin is also being pressured to ensure that companies who take help from the government don’t then lay workers off.

After a mixed days trading, European stock markets have closed lower - mostly.

The EU-wide Stoxx 600 dipped by 0.5%, handing back a small chunk of yesterday’s rally. Utility firms, energy companies, and telecoms operators led the fallers.

  • FTSE 100: down 46 points or 0.7% at 6,002
  • German DAX: up 18 points or 0.17% at 11,077
  • French CAC: down 40 points or 0.9% at 4,458
  • Italian FTSE MIB: down 366 points or 2% at 17,034
  • Spanish IBEX: down 170 points or 2.5% at 6,609

David Madden of CMC Markets says stock markets bulls have ‘taken a breather’, partly due to signs of resistance to the Franco-German proposal of a new Covid-19 recovery package.

Stock markets in Europe are in the red as traders’ book some of their profits from yesterday’s massive gains. In the past 24 hours the outlook hasn’t really changed, but equities have handed back some of the ground that was made yesterday. Economies around the global are still being reopened, and hopes remain high for a potential Covid-19 vaccine, but it seems like the bulls have decided to take a breather today. It might transpire that today’s negative move was just a slight retracement before the next leg higher.

France and Germany are backing a €500 billion rescue plan for Europe – which would hand out grants to regions struggling with the Covid-19 crisis. A number of Northern European countries, like the Netherlands, are not keen on the scheme as they would prefer to see loans being issued. While the divisions over the plan continues, sentiment is unlikely to be positive.

Our economics editor, Larry Elliott, warns that the jump in UK unemployment in April is just the start...there could be much worse times ahead.

Crunch time for the labour market will come between the start of August, when the government wants employers to start paying a portion of wage subsidies, and the end of October, when the furlough scheme is due to end completely.

At present, many companies are not laying off staff because the Treasury is picking up the tab for 80% of monthly pay up to a limit of £2,500. If severe lockdown restrictions are still in place, Rishi Sunak will have a tough choice: extend the scheme or see the UK suffer a second wave of job losses. The pressure on the chancellor to at least keep furloughing for sectors most affected by social distancing – hospitality, leisure and retailing – will be considerable.

Schroders: pandemic will cause long-term damage

UK fund manager Schroders has warned today that the economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic could last for many years, long after the outbreak has passed.

In a new report, chief economist Keith Wade examines how previous pandemics often lasted for many years -- leaving “deep scars” on those who survive. Those households and businesses will be more cautious, keener to save and more cautious about spending.

Wade writes:

Studies of the economic effects of pandemics point to significant long run effects. Growth and returns on assets are depressed for a considerable period of time, up to 40 years after the pandemic has passed. Those studies cover outbreaks stretching back to the Black Death of the 14th century up to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic of 2009.

Covid-19 is most frequently compared with the Spanish flu of 1918-19, an outbreak that claimed 40 million lives, or 2% of the world population implying 150 million deaths when applied to today’s population.

Fortunately, better health systems and government action to suppress the virus mean that the current outbreak should not be anywhere near as fatal. Nonetheless, although governments may ultimately succeed in curtailing the health impact, the economic effects and debt costs are significant.

Wade also argues that Covid-19 will accelerate existing economic trends - meaning lower interest rates, higher healthcare spending, rising populism and accelerated technological change. More here.

Updated

Back in the City, the FTSE 100 is once again struggling to hold onto the 6,000-point mark.

The blue-chip index is now down 80 point, or 1.3%, at 5966. Tobacco firm Imperial Brands is the top faller, down 7%, with utility firms also dropping.

Investors are taking their cue from Wall Street, where the Dow is still in the red. Strong sales results from Walmart have been balanced by weaker figures from retail chains Home Depot and Kohl’s, who both missed forecasts.

Over in Westminster, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak is warning that the UK faces a steep recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and probably a slow recovery too.

He told the House of lords economic committee that:

It is not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce back. It takes time to get back to the habits that they had. There are still restrictions in place. Even if we can re-open retail, which I would very much like to be able to do on 1 June, there will still be restrictions on how people can shop, which will have an impact likely on how much they spend.

Our main UK liveblog has more details.

The US stock market has opened a little lower, after Monday’s monster rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average has dipped by 143 points or 0.5% to 24,454, after leaping by over 900 points on Monday.

Investors seem to be a little more cautious, having got caught up in excitement about Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trials yesterday (going well, but early days!).

Much to my surprise, economic confidence in Germany has jumped to a five-year high.

At least, that’s what ZEW, the economic think tank, has found. Its index of economic sentiment has rocketed to 51.0 in May from 28.2 in April, indicating confidence that things will get better later this year.

However, things are pretty grim now. The assessment of the current economic situation, however, slumped to minus 93.5 in May, from minus 91.5 points in April.

Here’s some reaction.

Ben Chu of the Independent shows how vacancies in the UK, and claims for unemployment benefit, both moved dramatically last month:

World Bank: Commercial creditors are dragging feet over debt relief

The World Bank president David Malpass has expressed his frustration that the private sector creditors of poor countries have failed to join the governments of richer nations in providing emergency debt relief.

Last month, the G20 group of developed and developing nations announced a moratorium on debt payments until the end of 2020 and urged commercial creditors to embrace the idea too.

Malpass said the participation of private creditors had been “frustratingly slow” and that they were still taking debt payments from the poorest countries - many of whom have been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

His remarks came as the World Bank warned that an extra 60m people would be plunged into extreme poverty this year, wiping out the human development gains of the past three years.

Malpass said the debt relief would free up crucial resources for the world’s poorest countries and urged them to come clean about how the money was being spent.

“This will increase the confidence in the investment climate and encourage more beneficial debt and investment in the future.”

Malpass said the World Bank was expecting the global economy to shrink by 5% this year - a sharper decline than the 3% predicted by the International Monetary Fund last month - but was helping 100 countries to protect poor people, bolster health systems and boost the chances of economic recovery.

The Bank has set a target of increasing its lending to poor countries by $160bn by the middle of next year. Malpass said an initial $6bn had been dispersed.

Over in Washington, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has predicted that America’s economy will recover in the second half of 2020.

But in testimony to the Senate, Mnuchin also predicts large unemployment numbers and other negative economic indicators during the second quarter.

He says:

“Working closely with governors, we are beginning to open the economy in a way that minimizes risks to workers and customers.

We expect economic conditions to improve in the third and fourth quarters.”

America’s labor market has been hit particularly hard since the pandemic began, with 36 million people filing new ‘initial jobless claims’.

The Covid-19 lockdown is buffeting troubled high street chain French Connection.

French Connection, which closed all its 68 stores and concessions in March, says it will run out of cash within the next few months unless it secures a cash injection or sees an improvement in sales soon.

Compass Group, the world’s biggest catering firm,has unveiled plans to raise £2bn from investors to shore up its finances, as the schools, offices and sporting venues it previously supplied with food remain largely closed.

After soaring yesterday, European stock markets are a more mixed picture today.

The UK’s FTSE 100 has dropped by about 0.5% to 6020 points, having surged over 4% on Monday. Italy and Spain’s markets have dropped by around 2%

Yeterday’s rally was driven by biotech firm Moderna reporting early Covid-19 vaccine success, and Germany and France surprisingly backing a new €500bn rescue fund backed by collective borrowing.

Bill Blain, market strategist at Shard Capital, argues that this European recovery fund isn’t big enough to tackle the economic crisis in the region.

What the agreement is…. is a commitment by France and Germany to allocate the European Union budget in the form of grants to the “worst-hit regions and sectors.” What €500bnn of budget looks like – is a significant underspend.

If the US is spending upwards of $3 trillion, then the years of austerity damage to Europe’s soft underbelly require a similar, if not greater amount.”

Chris Giles of the Financial Times has picked out the key warning signs in today’s UK unemployment report - namely the drop in vacancies and hours worked.

Updated

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter has warned that the huge jump in unemployment benefit claims in April will be followed by a spike in evictions.

Shelter fears that many of the 857,000 people who joined the claimant count list are now struggling to pay their rent.

Under the government’s emergency legislation, tenants who fall into rent arrears are protected from eviction until late June - but campaigners say more protections are needed.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, says the government must increase benefit levels quickly, or face a surge of evictions:

“With a huge surge in people applying for benefits and early warning signs of major job losses to come, it’s clear that Covid-19 is going to send shockwaves through our economy like never before.

“We know from our services that thousands of renters are suddenly scrambling to stay afloat, and for those who’ve become unemployed, the furlough scheme is no help at all. Many are turning to Universal Credit in a desperate bid to pay their rent but are quickly finding out housing benefit levels are too low to break their fall.

“People paying average rents face huge shortfalls and many are racking up serious debts that put their homes at risk. Without more support, they will be swept up in a tidal wave of evictions when the government ban lifts. To prevent this, housing benefit must be increased to cover average rents and the benefit cap lifted – to give people a fighting chance.”

Easyjet cyber attack affects 9 million customers

Newsflash: Budget airline easyJet has suffered a cyber attack affecting nine million of its customers.

In a statement to the City, easyJet says that a “highly sophisticated source” accessed its systems, exposing the email addresses and travel details of approximately 9 million people.

They are now being contacted by the airline over the next week.

In addition, the credit card details of 2,208 customers were also accessed. EasyJet has already contacted these customers to alert them, and offer support.

The airline says:

There is no evidence that any personal information of any nature has been misused, however, on the recommendation of the ICO [Information Commissioner’s Office], we are communicating with the approximately 9 million customers whose travel details were accessed to advise them of protective steps to minimise any risk of potential phishing. We are advising customers to continue to be alert as they would normally be, especially should they receive any unsolicited communications. We also advise customers to be cautious of any communications purporting to come from easyJet or easyJet Holidays.

We’re sorry that this has happened, and we would like to reassure customers that we take the safety and security of their information very seriously.

NIESR: Pay packets will shrink

NIESR, the think tank, has predicted that UK pay packets will fall in the months ahead as the Covid-19 pandemic continues, particularly in the private sector.

They’ve analysed this morning’s unemployment data, and found signs that the government’s furlough scheme is limiting job losses, but leading to pay cuts:

In the final week of March, the total number of hours worked was around 25% smaller than in other weeks within the quarter. This reflects the large number of people being furloughed. Furloughing has helped to limit the rise in unemployment. The unemployment claimant count rose by 850,000 to 2.10 million in April. The number of vacancies fell to 351,000 in April, from 750,000 in March.

By early May a quarter of paid employees had been furloughed, with 80 per cent of their pay (up to £2,500 per month) being met by the government. This will mean that measured average earnings will fall in the short term, reflecting the lower pay of those who have been furloughed. An early sign of this was that median monthly pay fell by £55 in April to £1789 per month.

Pay growth had been running at over 3% per annum, but the 2.5% month-on-month drop in April shows that earnings are now falling (although not yet on an annual basis)

Garry Young, Deputy Director of NISER, explains:

“The extent of the economic fallout from Covid-19 is becoming clearer. Many businesses are under severe financial pressure and are only able to retain staff because of the government’s furlough scheme which is currently supporting 7½ million jobs.

Despite this, claimant unemployment rose above two million in April, the highest level since 1996, and it is very likely that we will see falls in pay in the months ahead.”

NIESR also predict that private sector employees will be hit harder than the public sector, where many essential workers are employed.

By June, total private sector pay (including bonuses) could be falling by 4.5% per year, it estimates, while public sector pay will be broadly flat.

Luggage maker Antler collapses

UK luggage brand Antler has fallen into administration, making it the latest corporate victim of the Covid-19 crisis.

Antler, which was founded in 1914, has suffered a slump in demand for its suitcases, carry-on bags and travel sets since travel restrictions were imposed.

Antler employed nearly 200 people, but 164 have been made redundant by restructuring firm KPMG which took control of the firm.

Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, says the shutdown on the high street and the cancellation of most flights triggered Antler’s collapse.

“Although the business was trading well prior to the virus outbreak, restrictions imposed at the start of the lockdown period prompted the closure of Antler’s retail and wholesale outlets, while the impact on international travel has also significantly affected sales,” said

“With uncertainty over the lifting of travel restrictions placing further financial strain on the business, the directors concluded that they had no option but to appoint administrators.”

Updated

Ovo blames Covid-19 for 2,600 job cuts

The UK’s unemployment problems have deepened this morning with Ovo Energy, Britain’s second biggest energy supplier, announcing 2,600 job cuts and several office closures around the UK.

The move is at least partly driven by the pandemic, which has forced Ovo to stop checking customers’ energy meters, for example.

But it also follows Ovo’s recent acquisition of SSE’s household supply division in a £500m deal.

My colleague Julia Kollewe explains:

The decision comes just four months after Ovo bought SSE’s retail division for £500m, instantly increasing its customer base from 1.5m to 5m homes.

Announcing the cuts on Tuesday, Ovo said the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated a shift in customer behaviour, with more people going online, which had permanently reduced the need for some functions and roles.

The job losses will affect gas engineers, electricians, meter readers, and call centre staff and the company will close its offices in Glasgow’s Waterloo Street, Selkirk and Reading. Jobs are also expected to go at offices in Perth, Cumbernauld and Cardiff.

The GMB union accused Ovo of betrayal, saying it had promised that there would be no job losses after the takeover of SSE’s retail business.

Peter Briffett, CEO of the income streaming provider Wagestream, fears the UK is heading for “seventies-style unemployment”, with vacancies vanishing just as more people seek work.

“Not only are people losing their existing jobs, but the prospect of finding a new job is decreasing sharply as employers dig in for a turbulent few years ahead.

The claimant count soaring to over 2m suggests a new generation are facing a potentially long time without work or, as people during the latter stages of the 20th Century referred to it, on the dole.

“Unsurprisingly, the hospitality sector has been hit especially hard, and could take many years to recover from the impact of Covid-19.”

Resolution Foundation have tweeted a handy thread of the key charts from today’s UK labour market report, including the drop in employees, the rise in the claimant count, the plunge in vacancies, and the drop in pay last month.

They also flag up that younger workers have been hit hard by the downturn:

Full story: UK jobless claims soar by nearly 70%

Here’s our economics correspondent Richard Partington on today’s UK unemployment report:

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits increased by the most since records began in April to reach almost 2.1 million, according to official figures capturing the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

The Office for National Statistics said about 856,500 people signed up for universal credit and jobseeker’s allowance benefits in April, driving up the overall UK claimant count by 69% in a single month.

Economists said the surge marked the biggest monthly increase since comparable records began in the early 1970s, while the overall number of people claiming for benefits due to unemployment had risen above 2 million for the first time since 1996.

The first official attempts to gauge the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis also revealed the number of employees on company payrolls plunged by 450,000 at the start of April, in a reflection of staff being let go and reduced hiring. The number of vacancies posted by companies looking for new staff also halved.

More here:

Employment minister: We can bounce back from unemployment struggle

Amid all the gloom, we shouldn’t forget that the UK unemployment rate did dip to 3.9% in January-March (nearly its lowest levels since the 1970s).

The employment rate hit at a joint-record high of 76.6% in the first quarter of 2020 too, the ONS reports.

That may feel like another age, before Covid-19 hit the global economy. But minister for employment Mims Davies MP argues it’s an encouraging sign, as the UK looks to recover from the coronavirus shock.

Here’s her take on today’s unemployment figures:

“Clearly these figures are behind on our current struggle but the impact of this global health emergency is now starting to show – and we’re doing everything we can to protect jobs and livelihoods.

“What these statistics do highlight is that heading into the pandemic, we had built strong foundations in our economy, which will be crucial as we gradually move forward as the lockdown eases and look to bounce back.”

You can read more about the drop in vacancies here on the ONS website [Figure 2 shows how they halved in April].

The drop in pay in April is covered here [in the “Median monthly pay” section]

Updated

Early estimates suggest the number of hours worked in Britain collapsed in the last two weeks of March, with the amount of time spent working collapsing to around 25% below normal levels.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said:

“This is a huge fall, and evidence of employers either putting staff on furlough and/or cutting the hours of those still working.”

UK vacancies halved in April

More bad news (sorry): The number of vacancies in the UK appears to have halved in April.

Today’s preliminary labour market data shows there were probably roughly 350,000 unfilled positions across the economy last month.

That’s down from 750,000 in March, and even lower than during the depths of the financial crisis.

Again, that’s a staggering slump, showing how parts of the economy basically froze as the lockdown was enforced and non-essential businesses halted work.

The ONS says:

Whilst the experimental single-month estimates should not be considered accurate estimates of vacancies in the reported months, it does indicate a decrease of approximately 50% of vacancies compared with the estimate in March 2020.

Large slumps in vacancies were reported in accommodation and food service activities (as restaurants, pubs and hotels closed), arts, entertainment and recreation (as sporting events were cancelled, parks locked, and cinemas shuttered), wholesale and retail trade (as shops closed) and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (as non-essential driving was curbed).

Nye Cominetti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, says Britain faces its worst unemployment crisis this century:

“Today’s figures highlight the speed and scale of Britain’s job crisis. Employee numbers have fallen by nearly half a million in just one month, while the number of vacancies has halved.

“These shocking figures would be far worse were it not the Job Retention Scheme, which has so far protected 7.5 million jobs.

“But even despite widespread furloughing, Britain could still be facing the highest unemployment levels it has had in over a quarter of the century.”

Updated

The poorer parts of the UK are being hurt particularly badly by the spike in unemployment.

The Institute for Employment Studies has crunched through this morning’s data, and found that in Blackpool, one in nine residents (11%) are now claimant unemployed, up from 7% in March. One in eleven residents are claimant unemployed in Middlesbrough, South Tyneside, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Thanet.

You can see this experimental data for April yourself here.

Claimant unemployment has increased fastest in the North West (up by 3.1 percentage points), the North East (3.0) and Northern Ireland (2.9). It has increased least in the South East and the East of England (both up by 2.1%), the IES adds.

Tony Wilson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies, explains:

“These figures give us the first official confirmation of what we’ve known for some time, which is that unemployment is rising faster now than at any point in our lifetimes.

But they also paint a deeply worrying picture about how the crisis is playing out across the country – with clear evidence now emerging that those areas that were worst off before the crisis have seen the biggest rises in unemployment. If anything, today’s data underplays the depth of the crisis that we’re in, as it only counts those who had successfully claimed benefits for unemployment as at 9 April, so excluding many young unemployed and more recent claimants. In reality, unemployment today is likely to already be close to three million.

Updated

With millions of UK workers now furloughed, it’s no surprise that the number of hours worked has dropped - by the most in a decade.

The ONS explains:

Between January to March 2019 and January to March 2020, total actual weekly hours worked in the UK decreased by 12.4 million, or 1.2%, to 1.04 billion hours.

This was the largest annual decrease since November 2009 to January 2010. The decrease in total actual weekly hours worked over the year was mainly driven by the decrease in men’s total hours worked (down 16.0 million hours).

Labour: UK must change social security system

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, says the surge in the claimant count shows the severity of the UK’s economic crisis.

He warns:

“Unfortunately these claimants will now discover the UK has one of the weakest out of work safety nets in the developed world.

We support the changes the Government has made so far during the outbreak, but they do not match the scale of the crisis.

Labour is pushing the government to make “five immediate changes to our social security system to make sure no one is forced into hardship,” Reynolds adds.

They are:

  • Convert Universal Credit advances into grants instead of loans, ending the five-week wait
  • Remove the £16,000 savings limit which disqualifies individuals from accessing Universal Credit
  • Suspend the benefit cap
  • Abolish the two-child limit in Universal Credit and tax credits
  • Uprate legacy benefits to match the increase in Universal Credit, providing an immediate increase in Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance

The UK government has warned that unemployment will rise sharply in the months ahead.

Reuters has the details:

Britain said on Tuesday that people should be prepared for unemployment to increase significantly after the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain soared to its highest level since 1996.

The claimant count rose by 856,500 - the biggest ever month-on-month leap - to 2.097 million, a 69% increase, the Office for National Statistics said.

“I think we should be prepared for the unemployment rate to increase significantly,” Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey told BBC radio.

UK pay fell last month

In another blow, pay also fell in April.

The ONS estimates that median monthly pay in April fell to £1,789 - down from £1,844 in March. That’s a drop of almost 3% month-on-month.

The UK government is currently paying 80% of the wages of furloughed workers, up to £2,500 per month. Employers can make up the difference, but don’t have to.

Updated

Record slump in UK vacancies

The number of job vacancies in the UK has tumbled, in another sign that the labour market is weakening fast.

The ONS estimates there were 637,000 vacancies in the UK in February to April 2020 -- 170,000 fewer than the previous quarter.

This is the biggest fall since this data series began in 2001. The previous record was 106,000 in the three months to January 2009, after the financial crisis.

The Claimant Count increased dramatically in the South West - where claims almost doubled during April.

The West Midlands had the smallest increase, but even here the number of people receiving people receiving universal credit and jobseekers allowance rose by over 50%

Introduction: UK employment slides in April

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

We start with some bad economic news: the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the UK jumped sharply last month, and the number in work fell, as the Covid-19 lockdown hit the economy

Preliminary data just released by the Office for National Statistics show that the UK claimant count surged in April by around 856,000, a rise of 69% in a single month.

That lifted the claimant count to nearly 2.1m people, from 1.24m in March.

That’s an astonishing increase: economist Rupert Seggins has calculated that it’s the biggest monthly rise since at least the early 1970s.

The ONS points out that these are early estimates - they don’t have all the data for April, so it could be revised.

Plus, the government has relaxed the rules to allow more people to claim Universal Credit benefits if they’re affected by Covid-19 - which could also push the claimant count up.

But it’s clear that the labour was hit hard by the coronavirus last month.

In another blow, the ONS has also reported that the number of paid employees in the UK dropped by around 457,000 people in April. That takes the total down to around 28.557 million from just over from just over 29 million in March.

That’s a drop of around 457,000 people, or over 1.5%, in a single month. And it shouldn’t include workers who have been furloughed.

Early estimates for April 2020 also indicate that median monthly pay fell by 0.9% compared with the same period of the previous year

The ONS has also reported that the UK unemployment rate dropped in January-March to 3.9%, lower than expected. But that doesn’t include the impact of the measures taken in mid-March to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Details and reaction to follow....

Also coming up

After very strong gains yesterday, European stock markets are expected to keep rising amid optimism that Covid-19 lockdowns will ease soon.

Policymakers will also be in the spotlight, with UK chancellor Rishi Sunak, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and top US central banker Jerome Powell all due to speak.

Plus, we get new car sales data and econonomic confidence (or lack of it) data from the eurozone.

The agenda

  • 7am BST: UK unemployment data for January-March
  • 7am BST: European car sales figures for April
  • 10am BST: ZEW survey of eurozone economic sentiment
  • 3pm BST: US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell speak to the Senate Banking Committee
  • 3pm BST: UK chancellor Rishi Sunak MP appears before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee
 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

CAPTCHA

*