Economic Review – November 2017

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, offered an optimistic vision of the UK’s future when delivering his first Autumn Budget on 22 November. But downgrades to the latest economic forecasts, released alongside his Budget Statement, overshadowed the Chancellor’s announcements.

The Bank of England (BoE) raised interest rates for the first time in more than ten years on 2 November but stressed that it only expects “very gradual” further increases over the next few years.

The FTSE 100, Britain’s index of leading shares, experienced a mixed month in November, with nine positive closes and 13 negative. The index peaked on November 6, ending the session on 7,562.28, before tailing off to finish the month on 7,326.67, a loss of 2.22%. This was its worst month end close since June, as the index came under pressure from rising sterling, buoyed by Brexit negotiation optimism – the pound hit a two-month high. The FTSE 250 also closed the month in negative territory, at 19,952.89, a fall of 1.36%. The junior AIM followed suit, losing 1.20% over the month at 1,026.54.

Retail sales figures are always keenly watched around the run-up to the crucial Christmas period and this year the data appears to be sending mixed messages.

The UK’s long run of record employment growth may be at an end with the latest data showing that the total number of people in work fell by the highest amount in over two years.