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Our monthly read on what moved investment markets over the past month and what it could mean looking ahead. This issue looks back at August.
In this issue
The economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, but the jobs market stayed flat and inflation turned higher again. We look at what drove growth, why hiring has slowed, how the heatwave hit retail sales, and why higher energy bills and a summer drought could keep pushing prices up.
The month in numbers
GDP grew 0.4 per cent between April and June, down from 0.6 per cent in the first quarter but ahead of forecasts. Inflation rose to 2.9 per cent in July from 2.6 per cent in June, after the Ofgem price cap went up by an average of 13 per cent. Unemployment held at 4.9 per cent while vacancies fell to 707,000, their lowest in more than five years, and regular pay grew 3.5 per cent. Retail sales volumes fell 0.5 per cent in July, although food and drink sales were up 3.8 per cent on a year earlier.
