UK Publications
Below is a list of our UK Publications for the last 5 months. If you are looking for reports older than 5 months please email info@pantheonmacro.com, or contact your account rep
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Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)
- In one line: Early Easter exaggerates the fall, but it was a weak reading nonetheless.
- In one line: Noise exaggerates growth, but GDP was nonetheless solid heading into the Iran War.
- In one line: Few signs of a spillover from higher energy prices into core import costs, yet.
- In one line: House price inflation to remain weak in 2026 as higher interest costs bite.
- In one line: Uncertainty hits permanent hiring, but vacancies improve, suggesting the job market is holding up.
- Some of March’s strong GDP gain was front-running ahead of supply-chain disruption...
- …But our measure of underlying activity grew solidly too, suggesting genuine strength.
- We now expect quarter-to-quarter GDP growth of 0.2% in Q2, up from 0.1% previously.
- We now expect CPI inflation to drop to 3.0% in April from 3.3% in March, in line with the MPC’s call.
- But our forecast is close to rounding down to 2.9%, and uncertainty is high, with many price resets.
- Smaller water-bill and vehicle-tax hikes than in 2025 will slow inflation, but rents will rise by more this April.
- We expect CPI inflation to slow to 2.9% in April from 3.3% in March.
- Utility prices fell 6.6% in April, and a range of government-set prices will rise less than a year earlier.
- Our CPI inflation call is 0.1pp lower than rate-setters expect, but we match their services inflation forecast.
- The bar to the MPC returning to rate cuts, if oil prices fall, looks high, as growth and inflation are holding up.
- But a thin Iran-US deal, if signed, would lead us to shift to one or no hikes this year.
- Disastrous local election results for the Labour Party will keep political risk elevated
- MPC members argued that tighter financial conditions were doing the job of rate hikes for now.
- The Market Participants Survey in particular appears to have been influential in Governor Bailey’s view.
- But the MaPS suggests the MPC will have to hike this summer to maintain financial conditions.
- In one line: Not as good as it looks, but the PMIs still say the MPC should worry more about inflation than growth.
- In one line:The Chancellor will need to borrow more than expected in the upcoming fiscal year.
- In one line: Higher inflation means consumers’ confidence will remain weak in 2026.
- In one line:Tentative signs that consumers are willing to run down their high saving rate to support consumption.
GROWTH HOLDS UP WHILE INFLATION JUMPS...
- …SO WE EXPECT AN MPC RATE HIKE IN JUNE
- The MPC’s decision to hold rates, and the vote split, were in line with consensus.
- The MPC’s guidance suggests to us a couple of rate hikes this year, fewer than the market had priced.
- Mr. Bailey’s communication in the press conference jarred with MPC scenarios, so we detail our take.
- Household inflation expectations eased—although were still high—in April, according to YouGov.
- But we think the MPC can take limited comfort, because expectations still look de-anchored.
- Consumers are more attentive to inflation now than before 2022, raising risks of second-round effects.
- Risks are skewed to a hawkish hold by the Bank of England as the DMP shows rising price pressures.
- A slew of surveys last week suggests inflation risks are more prominent than growth weakness.
- Bank Rate expectations are moving with oil prices rather than economic data.
- In one line: Underlying inflation accelerating tips the balance towards rate hikes if oil prices stay high, or limits the room for cuts if oil prices fall back.
- In one line: Stabilising jobs and unemployment fall challenges the MPC assessment of how fast the labour market was loosening.
