Pantheon Publications
Below is a list of our Publications for the last 5 months. If you are looking for reports older than 6 months please email info@pantheonmacro.com, or contact your account rep.
Please use the filters on the right to search for a specific date or topic.
Daily Monitor Elliott Laidman Doak (Senior UK Economist)
- Insolvencies fell year-over-year in January despite months of political chaos causing weaker growth.
- Retail insolvencies have risen, likely as 2025’s payroll-tax and minimum-wage hikes hit the sector hard.
- But overall business failures should drop a little in 2026, as growth recovers and borrowing costs fall.
- Issuance changes, a drop in the fiscal risk premium and weaker data pushed down yields from November.
- But the gilt-market rally is reversing as political risk rises and the market prices fewer cuts from the MPC.
- We expect 10-year and 30-year yields to rise to a 2026 high of 4.60% and 5.40%, respectively, in Q3.
- Mining output likely rose sharply in December as Brent and Forties loadings surged…
- ...but falling manufacturing activity and energy supply output will drag on GDP growth.
- We expect quarter-to-quarter GDP growth in Q4 of 0.1%, but it could tip to 0.2%.
- House prices jumped in November, leaving our call for a 2.0% year-over-year gain in Q4 2025 on track.
- We expect the market to heat up in 2026, as new buyers return from the sidelines.
- House price inflation should rise to 3.0% by Q4 2026, supported by stronger demand and weak supply.
- December’s public finances report showed borrowing was below the OBR’s most recent projections.
- The shaky foundations of the Budget create a risk of looser fiscal policy in the coming years.
- Risks are tilted towards a sell-off in the gilt market as investors re-price in long-term fiscal pressures.
- The Reform Party is well ahead in the polls, and Sir Keir Starmer remains deeply unpopular with voters.
- A drubbing for the government at the local elections in May could trigger a Labour leadership challenge.
- Most roads lead to further fiscal U-turns, increasing the risk of looser fiscal policy.
- GDP growth looks set to beat the MPC’s forecast in Q4 2025, after November’s 0.3% gain.
- The recovery in autos manufacturing has little further to run, but underlying activity looks solid to us.
- Construction output is falling rapidly, closing the gap on the PMI and representing a downside risk to GDP.
- We expect ‘final’ payrolls to fall by 15K month-to-month in December, but hiring will improve in 2026.
- The LFS unemployment rate will drop to 5.0% in November, but that still likely overplays job weakness.
- Wage inflation will moderate in December, but surveys suggest the pace of pay growth is flattening.
- Manufacturing output likely rose in November as auto production recovered after the JLR cyber attack.
- Leading indicators suggest that consumer-facing services were spared the worst of pre-Budget worries.
- Output growth in Q4 2025 will likely run close to the MPC’s forecast and the steer from the PMI.
- Strong ISA savings were likely front-running the Budget rather than signalling weak spending.
- Credit flows to businesses and households rose strongly in November, conveying confidence.
- Mortgage approvals ticked down only slightly, and buyer interest should pick up in 2026.
- Q3 GDP growth was unrevised at 0.1% quarter-to-quarter, down from 0.2% in Q2.
- Business investment in Q3 was revised up, and declining borrowing costs should boost credit flows.
- The household saving rate fell to 9.5% in Q3, from 10.2% in Q2, and should continue to drop in 2026.
- The MPC reduced Bank Rate by 25bp to 3.75% in a widely expected five-to-four vote yesterday.
- But the meeting minutes were guarded, and Governor Bailey struck a hawkish tone on the pace of pay gains.
- We remain comfortable with our call for just one more cut to Bank Rate in 2026; it will be closely fought.
- Official house prices fell in September, and we think activity will remain weak in Q4…
- ...But the private-sector house price indices are rising again, and surveyors are becoming more optimistic.
- So, we look for house price inflation of 3.0% in Q4 2026, up from 2.25% in Q4 2025.
- The Budget cuts inflation in 2026 but raises it later, so there is no impact on the medium-term path for rates.
- Latest estimates of the neutral rate continue to suggest little room for the MPC to cut rates quickly.
- The Government will likely support the neutral rate with heavy debt issuance and tight immigration rules.
- Backloaded distortionary tax hikes will lack the credibility of an income tax hike.
- Ms. Reeves will struggle to fund the biggest directly inflation reducing measures speculated about.
- Gilt yields are likely to rise after a less disinflationary and credible Budget than expected.
- The Government’s U-turn on hiking income tax shows that the political situation is deteriorating…
- ...So, we raise our forecast for the 10-year yield to end 2025 at 4.65%, and the 30-year at 5.45%.
- Risks to yields are upward as a potential Labour Party leadership challenge increases the pressure to spend.
- The labour market report was dovish, as it showed employment falling and wage growth easing sharply.
- Weak jobs all but seal a December Bank Rate cut; we are close to forecasting another in spring 2026…
- …But surveys are stable, and we have doubts about the sharp rise in the unemployment rate.
- We expect GDP to rise by 0.1% in September, boosted by solid retail sales and car registrations.
- Industrial production likely cut 8bp from GDP growth in September as a cyber attack halted autos output.
- Resilient economic activity means the MPC has little scope to cut quickly in 2026, in our view.
- We expect ‘final’ payrolls to be unchanged month-to-month in October.
- The bulk of evidence points to employment growth stabilising as the hit from payroll-tax hikes fades.
- Private pay growth should slow further, encouraging MPC doves that they can cut rates in December.
- The insolvency rate has plateaued above pre-pandemic levels but is unthreatening.
- We see little indication that higher insolvency rates will lead to a sharp rise in unemployment.
- Insolvency numbers will fall as businesses adjust to higher interest rates and GDP growth holds firm.
