UK households more uncertain over finances
British households’ confidence in their finances worsened this month as their earnings from employment rose at the weakest rate since February.
The IHS Markit Household Finance Index, watched by the Bank of England as a gauge of consumers’ financial health, cooled to a three-month low of 45.1 from 45.7 in September, though the reading is still one of the highest since the survey’s 2009 launch.
The survey’s findings may raise eyebrows among BoE officials who expect inflation pressure to pick up over the next couple of years, driven by a gradual pick-up in wage growth.
Data firm IHS Markit said the British public’s inflation expectations for the next 12 month fell this month to the lowest in two years, while optimism about house prices was the lowest since July 2016 — just after the Brexit vote.
Published: by Radio NewsHub