House price growth in Britain slowed to its weakest annual rate since July 2013 last month, hurt by increasingly squeezed consumer finances, according to the latest report from the Halifax.
The mortgage lender said UK house prices were up 5.1% year-on-year in the three months to February 28, down from the 5.7% annualised rate seen in January, and weaker than forecasts for growth of 5.3%.
On a monthly basis in February, house prices edged up 0.1% after a 1.1% drop in January, Halifax added.
Think-tank boost …
In a boost for Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond ahead of tomorrow’s 2017 Budget, a leading economic think-tank has raised its growth outlook for the UK this year
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts that the UK economy will grow by 1.6% this year, after expanding 1.8% in 2016, faster than the 1.2% growth for 2017 it was predicting in late November.
However, the Paris-based organisation said it still expected Britain’s economy to shift down a gear compared with last year as rising inflation hits households, and also highlighted rapid house price growth in the UK and other countries as a potential warning sign of another economic downturn.
German industry …
Industrial orders in Germany dropped by 7.4% in January, their biggest monthly fall in eight years due to a slump in domestic and euro zone demand.
The slide was almost three times greater than the consensus estimate of a 2.5% fall, and runs counter to otherwise fairly buoyant readings on the region's economy.
However, German’s economy ministry said the drop in January was expected after a strong fourth-quarter in 2016, with the December increase in industrial orders the highest since July 2014.
Food inflation …
UK food inflation doubled month-on-month in February, with the price of staples including butter, tea, lamb and fish all rising, according to industry data released today, adding to evidence that the impact of last year's Brexit vote is pushing up shoppers' bills.
Market research firm Kantar Worldpanel said grocery inflation was 1.4% for the 12 weeks to February 26, up from 0.7% in the 12 weeks to January 29.
Food prices have been rising in Britain since the start of this year, bringing to an end a more than two-year period when prices fell.
Budgens jobs …
A small supermarket chain that trades under the Budgens brand has been placed into administration, leading to the loss of around 800 jobs, administrator PWC said in a statement today.
Food Retailer Operations Ltd, which runs 34 stores across the UK as Budgens and employs 815 people, bought the network from larger retailer, the Co-Operative in July 2016.
The remainder of the Budgens stores network, run locally by independent retailers and supplied by Booker PLC (LON:BOK) - the wholesaler that is being bought by Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO.) - will not be affected by the move.
Plane squeeze …
British Airways, the carrier owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC (LON:IAG), is cutting the amount of legroom for its economy passengers by squeezing two more rows of seats onto its Airbus aircraft.
The airline will reduce the gap between seats from 30 inches to 29 inches on the A320 and A321 planes in its fleet, meaning it will offer the same legroom as discount rival easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ), which flies the A319 and A320 planes on its short-haul flights.
On the other hand, Irish budget rival Ryanair PLC (LON:RYA) – which flies Boeing's 737-800 (738) aircraft - gives its passengers 30 inches of legroom.