As the pace of economic growth slowed in March and job creation hit a two and a half year low, an economist suggested the prospects for an interest rate rise still look weak.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, which compiles the Purchasing Manager’s Index, said an upturn in the pace of the service sector growth wasn’t enough to reverse the general slowdown in growth.
“Business confidence remains in the doldrums as concerns about the global economy continue to be exacerbated by uncertainty at home, with nerves unsettled by issues such as a Brexit and the prospect of further government spending cuts announced in the Budget,” he said.
He added that the data is likely to weaken further in the second quarter.
“With the PMI already in territory traditionally associated with the Bank of England choosing to loosen policy, interest rate hikes seem a long way off.”
David Noble, group chief executive officer at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: “Though the index was still in positive territory, the impact of increased competition, uncertainty over Brexit and new buy-to-let and Stamp Duty rules possibly cooling the housing market showed that there was less appetite for a more robust response in activity.
Bank Base Rate has been at 0.5% since March 2009 and a poll of 50 ‘experts’ from Reuters out yesterday suggested the majority expected the next rate move in 2017.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
