Economic Review – December 2018

With less than three months to the country’s scheduled EU departure, it remains unclear whether the UK will leave with an amicable deal, crash out with no deal or whether the Brexit process will even be completed at all.

Bank of England (BoE) officials have reduced their growth forecasts for the UK economy and warned that a lack of clarity over Brexit is hitting economic prospects.

Global equities rose on the last day of December, as progress in resolving the US-China trade dispute prompted investor optimism, in what has been a challenging year for many markets.

The latest set of employment statistics shows that the UK labour market remains in a robust state and that the recent recovery in real pay growth is gathering momentum.

The rate of inflation in the UK fell to a 20-month low in November 2018 with policymakers expecting price pressures to ease further during the coming months.