Latest news with #CelineFenech
Gulf Today
22-07-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
British grocery inflation jumps to 5.2 per cent in four weeks
British grocery price inflation rose to 5.2 per cent for the four weeks to July 13, its highest level since January last year, according to data from market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator, adding to pressure on low-income households. The figure is up from 4.7 per cent in last month's report. Britain is struggling with persistently high inflation, as supermarkets face rising staff wages, new employer taxes and regulatory costs, even as commodity prices climb. Worldpanel by Numerator, which formerly published the data under the name Kantar Worldpanel, said just under two-thirds of households say they are 'very concerned' about the cost of their groceries, and are switching to supermarket own-label products. Inflation in Britain is the highest of any major advanced economy and is around one percentage point more than in the United States or the Eurozone. Grocery sales in value terms grew 5.4% year-on-year over the four weeks, helped by warm weather which boosted ice cream and sorbet sales by 33%, while sales of iced coffee and strawberries also jumped. Sales at Tesco, the country's biggest supermarket, increased by 7.1% in the 12 weeks to July 13 compared to the same period last year, extending its market share to 28.3%, while No.2 player Sainsbury's sales gained 5.3%. No.3 grocer Asda remained the industry laggard with a sales decline of 3%, outshone by online specialist Ocado and discounters Lidl and Aldi, which showed sales growth of 11.7%, 11.1% and 6.3% respectively in the period. British consumer sentiment had a marked fall for the first time in nearly three years last month, reflecting increased worries about job security, a Deloitte survey showed on Monday. Deloitte said its consumer confidence index dropped by 2.6 percentage points to 10.4% in the second quarter, its lowest since the first quarter of 2024. The fall was the first since the third quarter of 2022 - when inflation hit a double-digit peak and financial markets reeled from former Prime Minister Liz Truss' budget plans - apart from a 0.2 point decline last year which Deloitte did not view as statistically significant. 'Concerns of a slowing labour market have left consumers worried about job security and income growth prospects, while persistent inflation and a high cost of living have negatively impacted sentiment towards personal debt,' said Deloitte consumer insight lead Celine Fenech. Businesses have blamed increased employment taxes and a higher minimum wage which took effect in April, as well as planned law changes to make it harder to dismiss new employees, for making them more reluctant to hire. Official data last week showed Britain's unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, its highest since 2021, while inflation picked up to 3.6% in June, the highest since January 2024. The Deloitte figures paint a slightly different picture to Britain's longest-running survey of consumer sentiment, from GfK, which drifted in the second half of last year but rose to its highest since December last month. Deloitte's survey of 3,200 consumers was conducted between June 13 and June 16 and the consumer sentiment index is based on six questions about job security, job opportunities, income, debt, children's welfare, and general health and wellbeing. Meanwhile British pay growth slowed in May and employee numbers dropped further last month, but the cooling in the labour market which had alarmed some policymakers appeared less acute than previous data had suggested, official figures showed on Thursday. Annual wage growth, excluding bonuses, slowed to its lowest since the second quarter of 2022 in the three months to May at 5.0 per cent. But the figure was still slightly higher than the 4.9 per cent median forecast from economists in a Reuters poll and April's pay growth was revised up to 5.3 per cent from 5.2 per cent. The number of employees on company payrolls dropped by a provisional 41,000 in June after a 25,000 decline in May. However, the May decline was far less sharp than the originally reported reading of 109,000, which represented the biggest decline since early in the COVID-19 pandemic and had triggered concern that businesses were retrenching rapidly in the face of higher labour costs and a weak growth outlook. 'The latest figures ease immediate pressure on the Bank of England to accelerate interest rate cuts. Though the labour market continues to soften, the hefty revision to May's payrolled employees figure paints a less alarming picture than previously,' said Jack Kennedy, senior economist at recruitment site Indeed. Five-year British government bond yields rose to a one-month high after the data and financial market expectations for an August rate cut softened marginally. The ONS said May's initial estimate of the fall in payroll numbers had been more provisional than usual due to an earlier-than-usual publication date for the labour market data last month. Reuters
RTÉ News
21-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
UK consumer sentiment suffers first big fall in nearly 3 years, Deloitte says
British consumer sentiment had a marked fall for the first time in nearly three years last month, reflecting increased worries about job security, a Deloitte survey showed today. Deloitte said its consumer confidence index dropped by 2.6 percentage points to 10.4% in the second quarter, its lowest since the first quarter of 2024. The fall was the first since the third quarter of 2022 - when inflation hit a double-digit peak and financial markets reeled from former Prime Minister Liz Truss' budget plans - apart from a 0.2 point decline last year which Deloitte did not view as statistically significant. "Concerns of a slowing labour market have left consumers worried about job security and income growth prospects, while persistent inflation and a high cost of living have negatively impacted sentiment towards personal debt," said Deloitte consumer insight lead Celine Fenech. Businesses have blamed increased employment taxes and a higher minimum wage which took effect in April, as well as planned law changes to make it harder to dismiss new employees, for making them more reluctant to hire. Official data last week showed Britain's unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, its highest since 2021, while inflation picked up to 3.6% in June, the highest since January 2024. The Deloitte figures paint a slightly different picture to Britain's longest-running survey of consumer sentiment, from GfK, which drifted in the second half of last year but rose to its highest since December last month. Deloitte's survey of 3,200 consumers was conducted between June 13 and June 16 and the consumer sentiment index is based on six questions about job security, job opportunities, income, debt, children's welfare, and general health and wellbeing. A separate question about the state of the economy saw a 3.9 percentage point rise in its balance, but it was still 18.4 percentage points lower than a year earlier. "Activity in the UK has slowed in recent months, but an uptick in business confidence seen in the latest Deloitte CFO Survey testifies to continued resilience amid geopolitical uncertainties," Deloitte chief economist Ian Stewart said.
Ammon
21-07-2025
- Business
- Ammon
UK consumer sentiment suffers first big fall in nearly 3 years
Ammon News - British consumer sentiment had a marked fall for the first time in nearly three years last month, reflecting increased worries about job security, a Deloitte survey showed on Monday. Deloitte said its consumer confidence index dropped by 2.6 percentage points to 10.4% in the second quarter, its lowest since the first quarter of 2024. The fall was the first since the third quarter of 2022 - when inflation hit a double-digit peak and financial markets reeled from former Prime Minister Liz Truss' budget plans - apart from a 0.2 point decline last year which Deloitte did not view as statistically significant. "Concerns of a slowing labour market have left consumers worried about job security and income growth prospects, while persistent inflation and a high cost of living have negatively impacted sentiment towards personal debt," said Deloitte consumer insight lead Celine Fenech. Businesses have blamed increased employment taxes and a higher minimum wage which took effect in April, as well as planned law changes to make it harder to dismiss new employees, for making them more reluctant to hire. Official data last week showed Britain's unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, its highest since 2021, while inflation picked up to 3.6% in June, the highest since January 2024. Reuters
New Straits Times
21-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
UK consumer sentiment suffers first big fall in nearly three years, Deloitte says
LONDON: British consumer sentiment had a marked fall for the first time in nearly three years last month, reflecting increased worries about job security, a Deloitte survey showed on Monday. Deloitte said its consumer confidence index dropped by 2.60 percentage points to 10.40 per cent in the second quarter, its lowest since the first quarter of 2024. The fall was the first since the third quarter of 2022 – when inflation hit a double-digit peak and financial markets reeled from former Prime Minister Liz Truss' budget plans – apart from a 0.20 point decline last year which Deloitte did not view as statistically significant. "Concerns of a slowing labour market have left consumers worried about job security and income growth prospects, while persistent inflation and a high cost of living have negatively impacted sentiment towards personal debt," said Deloitte consumer insight lead Celine Fenech. Businesses have blamed increased employment taxes and a higher minimum wage which took effect in April, as well as planned law changes to make it harder to dismiss new employees, for making them more reluctant to hire. Official data last week showed Britain's unemployment rate rose to 4.70 per cent in the three months to May, its highest since 2021, while inflation picked up to 3.60 per cent in June, the highest since January 2024. The Deloitte figures paint a slightly different picture to Britain's longest-running survey of consumer sentiment, from GfK, which drifted in the second half of last year but rose to its highest since December last month. Deloitte's survey of 3,200 consumers was conducted between June 13 and June 16, and the consumer sentiment index is based on six questions about job security, job opportunities, income, debt, children's welfare, and general health and wellbeing. A separate question about the state of the economy saw a 3.90 percentage point rise in its balance, but it was still 18.40 percentage points lower than a year earlier. "Activity in the UK has slowed in recent months, but an uptick in business confidence seen in the latest Deloitte CFO Survey testifies to continued resilience amid geopolitical uncertainties," Deloitte chief economist Ian Stewart said.
The Sun
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
UK consumer confidence drops sharply for first time in 3 years
LONDON: British consumer confidence suffered its steepest drop in nearly three years last quarter as concerns over job security and persistent inflation weighed on sentiment, according to a Deloitte survey released on Monday. The consumer confidence index fell by 2.6 percentage points to 10.4% in Q2 2024, the lowest level since early 2024. This marks the first significant decline since Q3 2022, when inflation surged to double digits and financial markets reacted negatively to former Prime Minister Liz Truss's budget plans. Deloitte noted that a minor 0.2-point dip last year was not statistically significant. 'Consumers are increasingly worried about job security and income growth due to signs of a slowing labour market,' said Celine Fenech, Deloitte's consumer insight lead. 'High living costs and inflation have also hurt sentiment around personal debt.' Businesses attribute hiring hesitancy to rising employment taxes, an increased minimum wage since April, and stricter dismissal laws for new employees. Recent official data showed unemployment climbing to 4.7% in May, the highest since 2021, while inflation rose to 3.6% in June. Deloitte's findings contrast with GfK's long-running consumer sentiment survey, which improved last month to its highest since December. Deloitte's survey, conducted among 3,200 consumers between June 13 and 16, measures sentiment across job security, income, debt, and general wellbeing. Despite a 3.9-point rise in economic outlook, the balance remains 18.4 points lower than a year ago. 'The UK economy has slowed, but business confidence remains resilient amid global uncertainties,' said Deloitte chief economist Ian Stewart. - Reuters
