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)
- GDP rose by 0.1% month-to-month in August, after falling by a downwardly revised 0.1% in July.
- GDP growth will match our call of 0.2% quarter-to-quarter in Q3, below the MPC’s forecast, 0.4%.
- Underlying GDP growth has slowed due to Budget uncertainty but is still close to potential.
- The next forecast round from the OBR will likely show
the Chancellor’s headroom has become a £25B hole.
- We think the government will target headroom of
£20B, requiring £35B in tax hikes and spending cuts.
- Stealth, sin, property and pensions taxes will fill most
of the black hole in our view.
- In one line: Weaking wage growth makes this a dovish release, but the underlying story is a stabilising labour market with jobs no longer falling.
- In one line: Retail sales holding up given a tube shutdown and wet weather in September.
- MPC doves will seize on weaker-than-expected pay growth, so we now expect a rate cut in February 2026.
- But the underlying story is of stabilising jobs, which will limit the build-up of further slack.
- Accordingly, we think the MPC will be limited to only one more rate cut over the next year.
- We expect CPI inflation to accelerate to 4.0% in
September from 3.8% in August.
- Motor fuel and airfare base effects should together
add 23bp to inflation compared to August.
- Services inflation is proving sticky, so we expect
headline inflation to slow only to 3.8% by December.
- In one line: Payroll falls will ease as tax hike hit begins to fade.
- The strongest September car sales in five years indicate signs of life in the consumer.
- September’s REC survey points to easing payroll falls, so we look for an 8K month-to-month drop.
- We doubt graduate recruitment will drag much on payroll growth in September.
- In one line: Budget uncertainty will keep housing market weak until November.
- We expect the OBR to lower potential GDP growth by 0.1pp per year in the November Budget forecasts.
- Only a small downgrade is needed after payroll-based productivity growth far exceeded OBR forecasts.
- The fiscal watchdog should also avoid becoming unduly pessimistic about a hard-to-forecast variable.
- In one line: The PMI has been a poor construction indicator lately, official output will probably hold up.
- In one line: Strongest September car sales for three years bodes well for GDP.
- We expect the ONS to publish an initial estimate of an 8K month-to-month payrolls fall in September.
- The unemployment rate should hold at 4.7%, suggesting the labour market is loosening only slowly.
- We look for a strong 0.4% month-to-month gain in private sector ex-bonus AWE in August.
- We expect CPI inflation to rise to 4.0%, almost rounding to 4.1%, in September, from 3.8% in August.
- A motor fuels base effect will add 10bp to inflation compared to August, and core CPI another 14bp.
- The BRC Shop Price Index points to a jump in clothes inflation, while used-car price inflation picked up.
- In one line: Dovish as activity growth slows, price pressures ease and margins are squeezed, but Q3 average PMI was OK.
- In one line: Employment falls fail to open spare capacity so wage and price pressures remain stubbornly too high.
HOUSE PRICES DROP IN JULY...
- ...AND BUDGET UNCERTAINTY TO DRAG ON ACTIVITY IN H2
- September’s weak PMI sharpens the downside risk to our calls, but we stick to 0.2% quarterly growth in Q3.
- GDP growth was well balanced in H1, and credit flows point to solid private demand in Q3 too.
- Stubborn wages and inflation in the DMP, as spare capacity fails to open up, imply a cautious MPC.
BUILDING FISCAL RISKS THE MAIN CHALLENGE...
- …TO OUR FORECAST FOR THE MPC TO HOLD BANK RATE
- In one line: Manufacturing activity to remain weak in the second half of the year.
