UK Publications
Below is a list of our UK Publications for the last 6 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 Weekly Monitor
- We expect the MPC to cut Bank Rate in June, as services inflation undershoots its forecasts.
- The MPC’s words in any case signal the precise path of data is not that important for the first rate cut...
- ... Data may matter more for subsequent changes, so robust wage growth will mean one cut per quarter.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- We see the MPC continuing quantitative tightening at its current £100B-per-year pace in 2024/25.
- The MPC has said explicitly that it does not see rate cuts and QT as contradictory.
- Reserves will not reach ‘equilibrium’ until 2026, even with QT at a £100B-per-year pace.
Elliott Laidman Doak (Senior UK Economist)UK
- Sharply falling LFS employment suggests the labour market is easing quickly.
- But those data are misleading, and PAYE jobs will be revised up; the labour market is easing gradually.
- The MPC needs to brace for another strong pay gain in April, but will likely cut in June nonetheless.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- CPI inflation likely fell to 2.0% in April, from 3.2% in March, 0.1pp lower than the MPC forecast.
- Ofgem’s utility-price-cap cut as well as slowing goods and food inflation chop 95bp off inflation.
- We expect services inflation to decline to 5.4% in April, as indexed price rises are lower than in 2023.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- GDP grew 0.6% quarter-to-quarter in Q1, the strongest since Q4 2021.
- The recovery has been broad-based across sectors and will continue as consumers spend rising income.
- Strong growth shows interest rates are likely not as restrictive as the MPC is factoring in.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- A triple whammy of changes from the MPC suggests a June rate cut is more likely than not.
- Two rate-setters voted for a cut, and MPC forecasts indicate three Bank Rate reductions this year.
- The MPC’s guidance signals that pay settlements data over the next two months could seal the deal.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- We expect PAYE employment to rise 20K in April, and March’s fall to be revised smaller.
- The jobless rate should rise to 4.3%, and private-sector regular pay will gain 0.4% month-to-month.
- Wages will likely beat the MPC’s forecast but preserve the picture of a gradually easing labour market.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- We expect CPI inflation to fall to 2.1% in April, from 3.2% in March, matching the MPC’s forecast.
- Ofgem’s utility price-cap cut contributes about a third of that inflation fall, the rest is broad-based.
- Services inflation likely slowed to 5.4% in April, 0.1pp stronger than the MPC expects.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- The April composite PMI signals 0.4% quarter-to-quarter growth, above the MPC’s 0.1% forecast.
- Rising new orders and buoyant business confidence suggest that solid growth will be maintained.
- Services inflation slowed according to the PMI, but input costs surged after April’s minimum-wage hike.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Inflation and growth have beaten MPC forecasts, but market rate expectations have overreacted.
- So, next week’s new MPC forecasts will signal earlier and more cuts than the market is currently pricing.
- We expect the MPC to vote 8-to-1 to keep rates onhold and still look for the first cut in June.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- We think GDP was unchanged in March, after rising 0.1% in February.
- That would be enough to deliver Q1 growth of 0.4% quarter-to-quarter, above the MPC’s 0.1% forecast.
- Consumer services contributed 0.16pp of that, but the turnaround has been
broad-based across sectors.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- The renewed rise in mortgage rates in April suggests the March pick-up in secured credit demand will reverse...
- ...But stronger demand for unsecured credit is here to stay; debt levels remain very low relative to incomes.
- The March jump in corporate-bond issuance likely was a one-off, but the outlook for capex is benign.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- We expect quarter-to-quarter GDP growth to average 0.3% this year, driven by consumer spending.
- Energy price cuts will pull inflation below 2% in May; strong services will push inflation to 2.3% in Q4.
- We expect the MPC to cut Bank Rate three times this year, starting in June, but the risk is it eases only twice.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Consumer confidence in the economic outlook lies close to its average in the second half of the 2010s.
- Moreover, consumers’ unemployment expectations have fallen to their lowest since February 2022.
- We expect 0.5% quarter-to-quarter consumption growth in 2024, but delays to rate cuts pose a risk.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Month-to-month falls in the Nationwide and Halifax house-price indices in March were a blip.
- Mortgage interest rates will resume their gentle decline in May, and estate agents remain upbeat.
- We expect house prices to rise 4% year-over-year in Q4 2024 and the same again in 2025.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- The first estimate of 23/24 borrowing topped the OBR’s forecast by £7B, but revisions may improve the picture.
- The OBR will likely revise up its forecast for debt interest payments and nudge it down for the tax-to-GDP ratio...
- ...But the Chancellor can pencil in even more implau- sible forecasts for spending in order to cut taxes now.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- The PMI is consistent with 0.4% quarter-to-quarter GDP growth in Q2, above the MPC’s 0.1% forecast.
- The PAYE employment drop in March looks like noise, as the PMI records strengthening jobs growth.
- Price pressures remain elevated, with the minimum-wage hike boosting input price inflation.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Major employers are matching April’s 9.8% NLW hike for those earning a little above the minimum wage.
- The BoE Agents survey finds stronger pay growth than last year in consumer goods and services firms.
- We expect the NLW to boost private pay by 0.5%, with
upside risk, compared to the MPC’s 0.3% forecast.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Retail sales ended Q1 with a whimper, stagnating in March as department-store sales tanked.
- Look through the month-to-month volatility though, and retail sales growth is trending up.
- We still expect the MPC to cut Bank Rate in June, after Governor Bailey downplayed the inflation miss.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
- Brexit, demand uncertainty, staff shortages and high interest rates have held back business investment.
- All of these drags should ease, with staff shortages falling and the MPC likely to cut rates this summer.
- Firms’ investment intentions point to 1.5% year-over- year capex growth, an upside risk to our forecast.
Rob Wood (Chief UK Economist)UK
