Fastest growth since WW2

This week’s biggest economic news came first thing this morning with the ONS (Office for National Statistics) releasing figures showing surprisingly strong economic growth for the UK in 2021.

Most headlines picked up on the fact that this was the strongest rebound since World War Two. The key figure being that GDP expanded by 7.5%. The last time the UK saw this level of growth was in 1941.

These figures show that the economy weathered the ‘omicron factor’ in a resilient way, not taking as big a hit as many forecasters predicted.

In the world of currencies, the Pound started recovering from its slight dip against the Euro, ending the week on £1: €1.19, up from last Friday but down from the almost 2 year high we saw a fortnight ago. Against the dollar, it gained one point over the week and is now sitting at £1: $1.36.

Want to recieve The Friday Update straight into your inbox?

Previous updates...

Sterling continues to gain against USD

Sterling continues to gain against USD

It’s been a pretty quiet week once again for the UK economy. There have been no major economic data releases, events or political activity. Sterling has to therefore benefitted from a comparatively negative week across the other side of the Atlantic. This week saw ‘worse than expected’ manufacturing and employment

A positive week for Sterling

A positive week for Sterling

Following the drama of the last couple of weeks, the last five days have been relatively quiet on the economic front. There were no major economic releases coming out of the UK. Over the course of the week, we’ve seen the Pound slowly gain ground against both the Euro and

UK digests new economic policies announced in Autumn Statement

UK digests new economic policies announced in Autumn Statement

It has been a huge week for the UK economy. On Tuesday the rate of unemployment rose slightly from 3.5% to 3.6%. This was swiftly followed by higher-than-expected inflation figures on Wednesday. UK inflation is now sitting at a whopping 11.1%, a 41-year high. Yesterday we saw the Autumn Statement

1 2 3 14