- Core inflation remains stubbornly high. Bank of England forced to revise up inflation forecasts. Supermarkets coming under political pressure for accelerating food inflation – BRC index shows further rise in April (pages 2 – 6)
- Employment recovering well, with total hours worked up, and suggesting economy expanding by 1½% or higher. Caveats – many of the new jobs are part-time, and long-term sick is a pressing issue. Vacancies are falling, but wages not slowing (pages 7 – 26)
- PMI shows significant improvement in services: economy firming (pages 27 – 28)
- Manufacturing output trending higher. Construction strong. Business investment slows, but data prone to upward revision (pages 29 – 35)
- Consumer confidence improves (pages 36 – 40)
- Higher interest rates slowing household and corporate lending, but mortgage approvals may have turned. Unsecured lending strong too (pages 42 – 45)
- PSNB-ex up sharply in year to March (£139.12bn). Real yields edging higher as borrowing puts pressure on gilts (pages 46 – 47)
- Housing market turns up. Halifax index up three out of the last four months. Nationwide index up too. Rents still accelerating higher. Labour Party rejects calls for rent controls in London (pages 48 – 52)
- Goods trade deficit narrows in March. Strong rise in services surplus. Positive for sterling (pages 53 – 73)
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