Business News Round Up (19/03/2021)
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Bank of England say UK economy is rebounding ahead of schedule
Government borrowing costs hit a one-year high as markets repriced for recovery and inflation after the Bank of England said the economic rebound was ahead of schedule and kept monetary policy on hold yesterday. Ten-year gilt yields rose 0.04 percentage points to 0.9% after the Bank said that the news on near-term economic activity had been positive since last month. The break-even inflation rate, a market proxy for inflation expectations, rose to its highest level since early 2019. The Bank expects inflation to return “swiftly” to the 2% target but said it can see no sign of an underlying surge in prices. It shrugged off concerns about rising borrowing costs, saying that an aggregate measure of UK financial conditions had been broadly unchanged since February.
Scotland could see £4bn boost from levelling up female workforce
Almost £4bn would be added to Scotland’s economy by levelling-up female workforce participation to match the highest performing region of the UK. Scotland has jumped from fourth to second place in the latest PwC Women in Work Index, however the research found that if Scotland could match the South West of England, there would be a 2.7% boost to the nation’s GVA, equivalent to £3.8bn or 75,000 new full- and part-time jobs. Scotland had topped the Index in 2017 before falling to fourth last year as a result of marginal declines across four of the five indicators used to compile the Index, while other parts of the UK made improvements. Five areas of female economic empowerment are assessed by the Index: gender pay gap, female full-time employment, female unemployment, female labour force participation and the gap between this and male labour force participation.
UK consumer confidence rises to highest level since start of lockdowns
The planned reopening of the economy, the Budget’s renewed support for workers and businesses, and the rapid vaccine rollout have boosted UK consumer confidence to the highest level since before the first lockdown last March, fuelling hopes of a spending rebound. The UK consumer confidence index, a closely watched measure of how people view the state of their personal finances and wider economic prospects, rose seven points to minus 16 in March, according to research company GfK. The reading, based on data collected between March 1 and 12, was the largest monthly jump in almost a decade. It was better than the minus 20 forecast by economists polled by Reuters and the highest score since March 2020, when data reflected the pre-lockdown period.
https://www.ft.com/content/fe6f6a2b-7888-41f8-a45d-858c59b8cd2c
National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland launches £25 million graduate scheme
The National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS) has announced a new graduate scheme. It will offer 30 recent science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) graduates the opportunity to work with its engineers and researchers as part of the project. The £25m scheme was funded by the Scottish Government’s National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) and developed by the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy. It will provide on the job training and the opportunity to build in-demand skills relevant to the worlds of advanced manufacturing and engineering during a six-month period. NMIS is also collaborating with small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses across Scotland to give graduates the opportunity to work and learn with potential employers. The manufacturing skills academy has been awarded £1.45m from the NTTF to develop a series of virtual training opportunities to run alongside the graduate scheme.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/national-manufacturing-institute-scotland-launches-23753142