The GBP/USD rate strengthened over the course of the month, putting today’s rate approximately 15% higher than its September low. Questions remain over the state of the US economy. Yesterday, the US GDP growth rate was revised to 2.9%, revealing a better outcome than the forecast of 2.7%.
Moreover, customer spending rose to 1.7% rather than the anticipated 1.4%. All positive signs that despite raising interest rates the US economy is fending off recession. However, the employment rate in the US increased by 127,000 jobs in the last month, which is the lowest increase since January 2021 and suggests labour demand is low.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) forecast a “bleak winter” yesterday, following data which revealed food inflation hit 12.4% in November. Prices of meat, eggs, dairy and coffee saw considerable price hikes. These increases were fuelled by the soaring costs of energy, animal feed and transport.
The BRC index also revealed that overall shop price inflation rose to 7.4% in November, up from 6.6% in October.
Yesterday banking group HSBC announced its latest round of closures which amount to 114 branches – more than a quarter of its network.
The annual inflation rate eased slightly in the euro area yesterday to 10%, from a record-high of 10.6% in October. Today we will see data releases on unemployment in Italy and the euro zone for October.
Today, US markets eagerly await personal spending and personal income stats which are forecast to remain largely unchanged.
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