Every year, retail sales spike in December in the UK as people spend money on presents and preparations for Christmas celebrations.
Chart of the Week: Week 50, 2015: US Federal Funds Rate
The board of the US Federal Reserve meets today, and it is widely expected that they will announce a small increase in their target rate, taking it away from the rock-bottom range of 0 – 0.25% for the first time since late 2008.
Chart of the Week: Week 49, 2015: UK Economic Forecasts
Last week, the Economic Research Council hosted our fifth annual economic forecasting event, the “Clash of the Titans”, where we invited three economic experts to give their forecasts for 2016.
Chart of the Week: Week 48, 2015: UK Average Earnings Forecasts
The Economic Research Council’s fifth annual Clash of the Titans economic forecasting event was held on Wednesday 2nd December, where three economic experts gave their opinions on what will happen to the UK economy in 2016.
Chart of the Week: Week 47, 2015: International R and D Spending
Spending on research and development has been comparatively low in the UK for some time, but it has decreased since the financial crisis.
Chart of the Week: Week 46, 2015: Core Inflation
October inflation figures from around the world have been released this week, and certainly among most of the advanced economies, headline inflation has remained at near-zero (it was 0.2% in the US, 0.1% in the Euro Area, and -0.1% in the UK).