Richard Partington

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates on Thursday amid growing concerns over the hit to UK jobs and growth from Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic global trade war. In the Bank’s first intervention since the US president’s “liberation day” tariff policy announcement sent shock waves through the world economy, Threadneedle Street is expected to reduce its key base rate from the current level of 4.5%. Financial markets suggest an almost 100% chance of a quarter-point reduction.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Keir Starmer has been warned that Labour’s tough stance on benefits is costing Britain’s economy billions of pounds each year while adding to the pressure on public services by pushing more people into poverty. With the government under fire over its planned benefit cuts, the anti-poverty charity Trussell said that failing to tackle hunger and hardship would have severe human costs and cause damage to the wider economy and public finances.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic trade war has triggered a slump in container shipments to the US’s most important ports, amid the growing risk of a recession in the world’s largest economy. In the latest sign of the US president’s tariff policies rattling the economy, figures show the number of vessels scheduled to arrive at the Port of Los Angeles next week is down by almost a third from the same period a year earlier.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Consumer confidence in the UK has fallen to the lowest level for more than a year amid concern that Donald Trump’s trade wars could further drive up living costs for British households. The latest barometer of sentiment from the data company GfK fell in April to its lowest level since November 2023, as a combination of domestic tax increases, rising bills, and worries over the US president’s tariffs weighed on consumers.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Heather Stewart |Richard Partington

The Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, has said that the UK economy faces a “growth shock” as a result of Donald Trump’s trade policies. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, Bailey said that while he did not think the UK is “close to recession” at the moment, “we are certainly quite focused on the growth shock”.