Will it? Won’t it? On Friday we learned that, after delivering a strong first quarter performance, UK GDP contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June. This marks the first outright decline in economic activity since 2012 and puts the UK uncomfortably close to ‘technical recession’ territory just as global growth is faltering.
Latest monthly UK PMI surveys were upbeat, hinting at firmer Q3 GDP. Increasing skill shortages suggest a pick-up in wage growth in coming months, supportive for cash strapped consumers.
The latest NIJobs.com Jobs Report with Ulster Bank was published this week. It shows that the jobs market remains busy, driven by continued inward investment as well as recritment in other areas. Continue reading
Inflation is pushing UK consumers to take it easy at the shops meaning they’re no longer leading the charge on growth. Meanwhile new technology is shaking up the long established order in world oil markets.
Ofcom has revealed Northern Ireland’s television and online habits in their latest Communications Market Report. The report, released on 3rd August 2017, provides an overview of communications services across Northern Ireland and monitors key trends in the availability and take-up of digital services across the United Kingdom.
Research was undertaken and included a face-to-face survey of 3,743 respondents aged 16+ in the UK, with 493 interviews being conducted in Northern Ireland across a range of ages, socio-economic groups, geographic locations and gender.
Northern Ireland has very strong economic links with the US, when we look at a range of indicators, including visitors to NI, manufacturing exports, the number of US businesses operating in Northern Ireland and the number of local people American firms employ.
With it being around 4th July time, this graphic gives a snapshot of those strong economic links.
For further context, it is also worth noting, for instance, that US visitors spent nearly £55million in NI in 2014, which works out on average at nearly £300 per visitor, compared to £220 per English visitor, and around £200 per German visitor.
