Vaccination progress and an impending easing of lockdown measures boosted consumer confidence significantly in the UK this month.
The labour market is recovering faster than expected too. An early snapshot of the labour market shows that on March 12th the volume of online job adverts was just 6.7% below the February 2020 average. Demand for manufacturing, software and scientific workers has rebounded.
The UK remains an attractive destination for technology investment. Year-to-date VC in the UK has now reached €5.4bn, more than France, Germany, and Italy combined.
Promising government initiatives could help attract further private sector investment, accelerating the decarbonisation of the economy and the ‘levelling up’ of regions. The UKRI’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge has awarded £171 million to nine green tech projects in Scotland, South Wales and the North West, Humber and Teesside in England.
In contrast to the UK, Covid-19 infections in France and Germany are rising: technology is not the only reason to be bullish of sterling against the euro.
