Usdaw calls for talks with British Retail Consortium amid concerns women could bear brunt of predicted 900,000 job lossesFemale workers will be disproportionately hit if a prediction of almost 1 million job losses from the UK’s retail sector becomes a reality, the industry’s trade union has warned.Related: UK retail sector predicted to cut 900,000 jobs Continue reading...

Bloc slips into negative inflation for third time in a year prompting fears eurozone is heading for deflationThe European Central Bank is under growing pressure to step up support for the eurozone’s flagging economy after the bloc slipped back into negative inflation in February.The surprise drop in prices marked the third time in a year that inflation has turned negative, fanning fears that the eurozone is headed for all-out deflation – a sustained period of falling prices. The news cemented market expectations that the ECB would use its meeting next week to inject fresh cash into the single currency bloc and to cut a key interest rate further into negative territory.Related: Central bankers on the defensive as weird policy becomes even weirder Continue reading...

The People’s Bank of China has loosened rules on banks’ cash reserves for the fifth time in a year in the hope cheaper loans will be made availableChina’s central bank has stepped up action to bolster its cooling economy by loosening the rules on banks’ cash reserves in the hope that they will offer cheaper loans.By cutting the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) – the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves – the People’s Bank of China has in effect injected $100bn (£72bn) of long-term cash into the economy, experts said.Related: Chinese shares slump 6% as Beijing tries to reassure markets ahead of G20 Continue reading...

Country’s default on $82bn foreign debt in 2001 sparked long-running saga with creditors led by US hedge fund Elliott ManagementArgentina’s new president, Mauricio Macri, struck a $4.65bn agreement with the US creditors on Monday, ending a 15-year debt dispute between Argentina and a number of holdouts led by US billionaire financier Paul Singer.Related: Argentina's former president suspected of role in peso inflation scheme Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as UBS says sterling would suffer a sharp correction if Britain votes to leave the EU

Labour leader says former Greek finance minister is helping the party ‘in some capacity’The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is giving advice to the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn has revealed.In an interview with his local newspaper, the Islington Tribune, the Labour leader disclosed that Varoufakis was helping “in some capacity”. Continue reading...

People are less likely to seek help if they fall behind on household bills, but this has become a bigger issue than loans, overdrafts and credit cardsFor many people, being in debt and being financially excluded are two sides of the same coin. Debt can be both a consequence and a cause of financial exclusion.It is easy to see how households can become trapped in a vicious cycle. To understand how we can help them out of it, it is important to understand just how quickly the UK’s personal debt landscape is changing.

Deciding where to base your enterprise can affect its chances of success. From funding opportunities to local talent, we look at the cities that come out on top

Treasury select committee chair Andrew Tyrie calls for shakeup of Office for National StatisticsAndrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury select committee, has called for sweeping changes to how the UK produces official statistics to improve the quality of economic data.Chancellor George Osborne should use March’s budget to launch a shakeup of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), urged Tyrie, who recently criticised the body for falling behind its international peers and jeopardising policy decisions with “rubbish” statistics. Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation thinktank says 5m extra hours a week are needed to free up part-time roles for new entrants and the economically inactiveMillions of UK workers are stuck in the wrong job or working fewer hours than they would like, according to a report warning that this army of underemployed people are blocking opportunities for those outside the labour market.The Resolution Foundation thinktank said that 5m extra hours of work a week are needed to soak up employees’ demands for more work. Moving those underemployed into longer hours would free up their part-time roles for new entrants, including those currently defined as economically inactive – many of whom have health problems or caring responsibilities. Continue reading...

Brexiters play down the difficulties of renegotiating trade and other deals, but the process of withdrawal could take yearsFor the first half century of its existence, joining the club of nations that became the European Union was, in legal terms at least, forever. Once inside, there was no way out.But the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in 2009 to streamline the EU’s working practices after it had expanded to include the former communist states of eastern Europe, also signposted the exit for the first time. Continue reading...

The people of the republic have suffered. Now it is the politicians’ turnThe voters don’t do gratitude, self-pitying politicians are wont to moan. For technocratic admirers of Dublin’s outgoing Fine Gael/Labour coalition, the Irish election of 2016 has proved the point. In 2011, a near-bankrupt and recently bailed-out republic turned to Enda Kenny as a new broom, and his government enjoyed a record majority. Five years on, the economy is growing at quite a pelt, an unemployment rate which had been at 15% is back down in single figures, and after years of retrenchment the government has – finally – got its own debt back down below 100% of GDP. Europe’s economic authorities, who have had precious few austerity success stories to point to, have clung on to Ireland as a case that shows the medicine can work.But by routing Mr Kenny with unexpected ferocity, the voters have revealed that they do not see things this way at all – and don’t assume that they are wrong. For several years into the technical recovery, living standards continued to slide. While protesters against stiff new water charges were briefly locked up, the bankers who led Ireland into the mire still walk free. Wages remain insecure, and public services – which were always patchier in Ireland than the UK – have become less adequate. The bill for the crisis was passed to citizens who had nothing to do with its cause, and now the people are justly seething. Continue reading...

George Osborne has been determined to pursue cuts even as the economy struggles. But continued austerity now could be truly damagingSeven years ago this week, the Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.5% – the lowest since the central bank was founded in 1694. In a drastic bid to stem the fallout from the global financial crisis, then governor Mervyn King and his fellow policymakers also kicked off the process of pumping tens of billions of pounds into the economy.Unsurprisingly, Labour chancellor Alistair Darling welcomed the flood of money. The economy had been battered by recession, house prices were falling and unemployment was high.Related: George Osborne warns of further cuts as 'storm clouds' gather Continue reading...

The former Bank of England governor says in his new book that imbalances in the global economy makes a crash inevitableAnother financial crisis is “certain” and will come sooner rather than later, the former Bank of England governor has warned.

RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered insist they are strong enough to withstand another global downturn, but is that what their figures reveal?Four of Britain’s biggest banks reported annual results this week and insisted they were robust enough to withstand another global downturn. But what did the results for HSBC, Standard Chartered and the bailed-out duo of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland tell us about the industry and the wider economy?Related: British bank annual results – interactive Continue reading...

Chancellor says he will address gloomy economic outlook in budget and ‘this country can only afford what it can afford’George Osborne has warned he may have to impose bigger than expected cuts to public spending towards the end of the current parliament as the “storm clouds” in the global economy hit economic growth.In a move to prepare the ground for a sharp deterioration in the public finances in the budget next month, the chancellor said the recent fall in nominal GDP numbers showed the British economy was smaller than expected.Related: IMF urges G20 to take 'bold action' on global economyRelated: It’s the £30bn cut you’ve never heard of. And women are bearing the brunt | Gaby Hinsliff Continue reading...

New figures revising economic growth upward suggest US economy may be able to withstand a global slowdown better than many economists anticipatedThe recent economic slowdown in the US may have been less severe than previously estimated, according figures released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

Research shows the band continues to add £81.9m to Liverpool’s economy a year and supports 2,335 jobs Continue reading...

Senior Tory challenges ministers’ warnings about economic dangers for Britain of leaving the European UnionBritain should vote to leave the “flawed and failing” European Union, the former Conservative leader Michael Howard has said.He becomes one of the most senior Tories to reject David Cameron’s EU reform deal.We are the fifth largest economy in the world. Everybody wants access to our marketRelated: David Cameron warns Brexit could cost jobs and force up prices Continue reading...

The notion that governments can and should prevent depressions is a lasting influence of Keynesian thinkingIn 1935, John Maynard Keynes wrote to George Bernard Shaw: “I believe myself to be writing a book on economic theory which will largely revolutionise – not, I suppose, at once but in the course of the next ten years – the way the world thinks about its economic problems.” And, indeed, Keynes’s magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in February 1936, transformed economics and economic policymaking. Eighty years later, does Keynes’s theory still hold up?Two elements of Keynes’s legacy seem secure. First, Keynes invented macroeconomics – the theory of output as a whole. He called his theory “general” to distinguish it from the pre-Keynesian theory, which assumed a unique level of output – full employment.Related: Keynes helped us through the crisis – but he's still out of favour Continue reading...

Manual and lower-paid households have been in minority since turn of millennium – spelling bad news for Labour partyThe year 2000 was when Britain became more middle class than working class, according to social grading data.The proportion of households working in non-manual professions (known as ABC1s) was 50.6% at the turn of the millennium. It has since increased further, reaching 54.2% last year.

Mark Carney rejects idea that central bankers have ‘used all ammunition’ against downturn but says system remains strongBank of England boss Mark Carney has accused the G20 of failing to adopt measures to boost global growth as he defended central banks and their power to play a role in stimulating economic growth following attacks from critics who say they have run out of ammunition.

Ratings agency says downgrade would push up UK’s government borrowing costs and hurt its standing in global marketsThe UK would lose its top credit score if the public voted to leave the EU in the 23 June referendum, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said in a fresh warning on Thursday.The only big credit ratings agency to award Britain the highest AAA ranking renewed its warning over the UK’s economic prospects outside the EU after David Cameron fired the starting gun on referendum campaigning last weekend.Related: Brexit provokes strange alliances Continue reading...

Comsumer spending helped Britain’s economy grow in the last quarter, but exports failed to keep pace with imports

Business spending fell at sharpest pace for two years in final quarter, compounding anxiety about unstable recoveryThe UK economy grew by a solid 0.5% in the final quarter of 2015, official figures have confirmed, but news of a surprise drop in business spending fanned fears of a slowdown in the months ahead.Figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday left estimates for GDP growth unrevised. But fresh details on what was driving the economy underscored the precarious nature of the recovery and raised questions about whether its pace is sustainable.Related: Why is the pound falling and what are the implications for Britain? Continue reading...

Operator of Legoland, London Eye and Madame Tussauds says weaker pound is good for UK tourism and concerns over leave EU vote are misplacedWarnings by business leaders about the damaging consequences of a vote to leave the EU are overblown and the debate would be improved if bosses stayed out of the fray, the chief executive of Merlin Entertainments has said.Nick Varney said anguish over the falling value of the pound as the referendum approached was misplaced and that a lower rate of sterling against the euro was good for the economy. Continue reading...

Fund’s report says risks of more severe downturn are mounting as UK government battles sluggish productivity growthThe International Monetary Fund has urged the UK to ease back on austerity should the economy slow further, as it warned finance ministers at the G20 summit in Shanghai to boost public spending on infrastructure to fuel global growth.In a report on the UK’s economic outlook, the IMF said the risks of a more severe downturn were mounting as David Cameron’s government battled sluggish productivity growth, a balance of payments deficit, high levels of household debt, and the forthcoming referendum on EU membership.Related: As austerity falters, Tory Milibandism gains ground | Rafael BehrRelated: OECD's calls for less austerity means common sense has prevailedRelated: Austerity, injustice and the forces of callous Conservatism Continue reading...

Influential PMI report shows first decline in sector’s business activity since October 2013 with forecast saying worse is to comeConcerns over the health of the US economy have grown following the publication of an influential report showing the first decline in service-sector business activity since October 2013.“The PMI data show a significant risk of the US economy falling into contraction in the first quarter,” said Chris Williamson, the chief economist of Markit, which published the US purchasing managers’ index of service sector performance, one of the bellwethers of economic activity, on Wednesday.Related: US factory woes add to pressure on Fed to hold interest rates Continue reading...

The “Brexit buccaneers” (Polly Toynbee, 23 February) would suggest that an out vote will enable us to regain our sovereignty. That is a fantasy. As a nation, with the encouragement of successive governments, we have ceded sovereignty to a variety of external powers, including the EU, over many years.Major, foreign-owned multinationals determine levels of investment and jobs in this country as a consequence of decades of British national institutions and businesses being privatised or sold to the highest bidder. It is an illusion to believe that leaving Europe will somehow restore national sovereignty when our energy security is largely dependent on the French and Chinese governments deciding whether or not Hinkley C is built; Canadian multinationals decide how many aerospace jobs there will be in Northern Ireland; and Indian entrepreneurs preside over the survival of our steel industry. These same Indian entrepreneurs, and their German and Japanese counterparts, will decide the long-term health of our automotive manufacturing. Continue reading...

Christine Lagarde warns that uncertainty over outcome ‘will be bad in and of itself’ in months leading up to voteThe International Monetary Fund has warned that Britain’s steady growth could be jeopardised by the uncertainty in the run-up to the referendum on EU membership in June.Related: Brexit could wipe 20% off the pound amid referendum turmoil, warns HSBCRelated: Ryanair to campaign against Brexit Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as sterling hits its lowest level since 2009

Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsIs constant economic growth essential to capitalism?

Concerns over falling wage growth and economic slowdown take toll on high street, CBI survey showsA bumper January for retailers has turned into a lacklustre February as shoppers reacted to news of falling wage growth and the slowing economy by closing their wallets and deserting the high street.The CBI’s quarterly survey of retailers found that sales dropped below normal in February and that shop owners expected next month to be even worse. Continue reading...

Treaties limit the tax poorer nations can place on British companies doing business within their borders, says ActionAidThe UK has signed a high number of tax deals with some of the world’s poorest countries, potentially depriving those states of millions in tax revenues every year, according to an analysis by ActionAid.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has told MPs that investors fear the pound will suffer fresh losses as the EU referendum approaches

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Speaking on Tuesday before the Treasury select committee, the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, says this week’s fluctuations in the value of sterling may be due to uncertainty about Britain’s future in the EU

Vote to remain part of trading bloc will secure country’s place as powerhouse in global economy, says airport chiefHeathrow has thrown its weight behind Britain remaining in the EU, despite the airport’s claim that its expansion plans would become even more urgent if the country voted to leave.The airport said Europe brought Britain more trade and prosperity. The chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, added: “Heathrow believes that the UK will be better off remaining in a reformed EU. We are the UK’s only hub airport, connecting Britain to over 80 long-haul destinations, and handling over a quarter of UK exports – but we recognise that for business to thrive we also need to be part of the single European market.” Continue reading...

Study examining socioeconomic conditions places Austrian capital at apex of index while London, Paris and New York fail to make top 35Vienna is the world’s best city to live in; Baghdad is the worst, and London, Paris and New York do not even make it into the top 35, according to international research into quality of life.Related: Five things to do in Vienna, the world’s most liveable cityRelated: Vienna police fine man €70 for 'loud belch'Related: The 10 best parks Continue reading...

Worst manufacturing month for three years could influence central bank chiefs when they meet in three weeksUS factories have suffered their worst month for three years, heaping further pressure on the Federal Reserve to hold off from raising interest rates when it meets next month.A sharp decline in exports and plunging domestic orders were blamed for the fall in activity for February, making the month the lowest point for US manufacturing since the start of 2013 and joint lowest with October 2009.Related: The US 'manufacturing renaissance' doesn't exist, says new reportRelated: The Fed should show some reserve and not plough on regardless Continue reading...

Sterling suffers biggest one-day fall since David Cameron became PM after Boris Johnson backs campaign to quit EUThe pound tumbled to a seven-year low and the UK was warned its credit rating was at risk on Monday as the effect of Boris Johnson’s backing for the Brexit campaign was felt in financial markets.However, as traders and city economists wagered that the London mayor’s intervention had raised the probability of a leave vote in June’s EU referendum, high-profile business figures threw their support behind prime minister David Cameron’s push to stay in the EU.Related: Top firms back pro-EU letter, but supermarkets refuse to signRelated: Why is the pound falling and what are the implications for Britain?Related: Moody's warns Brexit would risk UK's credit rating Continue reading...

Sterling down to seven-year low against dollar, while ratings agency warns UK credit score at risk if public votes to leave EU in JuneThe pound has slumped to a seven-year low against the dollar after David Cameron fired the starting gun on a four-month battle to determine the UK’s future in Europe. Ratings agency Moody’s has also warned that Britain’s strong credit score would be at risk if the public vote to leave the EU.On financial markets, investors are gearing up for choppy trading between now and the 23 June vote. So why is sterling under pressure? What does it mean for you? And why do we care about the UK’s credit rating?Related: Brexit panic knocks pound to seven-year lowRelated: Top firms back pro-EU letter, but supermarkets refuse to sign Continue reading...

Sterling slumps by nearly 2% to its lowest point since March 2009, following London mayor’s decision to back the campaign to leave the EU