Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Citizens Advice: perfect storm for poorer households
- Energy bills probably rise if your supplier fails
- Fears of disruption this Christmas from lorry driver shortage
- Gas firms may face windfall tax as energy crisis hits households
- UK ministers explore ways to cut soaring energy bills for poorest households
- Bank of England setting interest rates at noon – no change expected
Nearly a fifth of UK companies couldn’t get the materials, goods or services they needed last week or were forced to change suppliers to do so.
That’s according to the Office for National Statistics, which found over a third of construction firms faced supply problems in the fortnight to 5th September.
Across all industries, 10% reported they were able to get the materials, goods or services they needed, but had to change suppliers or find alternative solutions to do so. This is up from 8% in early July 2021. The construction industry reported the largest percentage at 28%, an increase from 15% in early August 2021. This was followed by the accommodation and food service activities industry and the manufacturing industry at 16% and 12%, respectively.
Across all industries, 8% reported they were not able to get the materials, goods or services needed, this has remained broadly stable from early August 2021. The other service activities industry reported the largest percentage at 20%, followed by the wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles industry at 13%.
The proportion of currently trading businesses that experienced a challenge in importing or exporting has remained broadly stable since a large increase in January 2021.
There has been an ongoing fall in the proportion of businesses saying they have not been able to import or have imported less than normal, although more than 60% of importing businesses continue to state that they have faced challenges importing.
Central Bank news: Norway has raised interest rates from their record low, and signalled that more hikes are coming.
It’s another sign that central bankers are moving away from the rescue measures brought in during the pandemic, and focusing on inflation risks again.
“Based on the committee’s current assessment of the outlook and balance of risks, the policy rate will most likely be raised further in December.”
It’s official, the Norges Bank becomes the first DM central bank to hike rates post pandemic (last one was the Riksbank’s one-off in December 2019).
You don’t see it in the chart because Norway accounts for less than 1% in the sample. pic.twitter.com/kPwRQjLd9V
