The Bank of England has intensified the squeeze on household finances with its first back-to-back interest rate rise since 2004 as the central bank forecast inflation will increase to 7.25% in April (The Financial Times £).
The latest forecasts from the Bank of England offer a sobering view of Britain’s recovery: inflation will be even higher, growth will slow and there will be a turnaround in job prospects, with unemployment rising again (The Times £).
The City has bet on two further interest rate rises by May, despite efforts by the Bank of England governor to warn markets not to get “carried away” (The Times £).
Households will experience the biggest fall in their living standards since records began as they face soaring inflation, tax increases and rising energy bills, according to a bleak assessment of the year ahead by the Bank of England (The Times £).
Millions of UK households are expected to be dragged into fuel poverty for the first time despite the support announced by Rishi Sunak to soften the blow from soaring energy bills (The Guardian).
Britain’s inflation problems are worse because Brexit has drained the UK workforce, Christine Lagarde said as the European Central Bank stuck to its ultra-loose monetary stance (The Telegraph).
A shortage of skilled butchers and halted exports to China have prompted Cranswick to call on the government to address the “magnitude” of the issues facing the meat industry (The Times £).
Waitrose is scrapping its free newspaper offer for loyalty card customers after it emerged it is pushing up prices three times faster than rivals (The Telegraph).
In a letter to its 8.5 million scheme members, Waitrose said it would replace the current deal with more personalised offers, which would change each week (The Guardian).
Lawyers representing a union have hailed a judge’s ruling in a “firing and rehiring” High Court dispute with Tesco as a “huge win” for workers (The Times £).
Waitrose and Lidl are the most sustainable supermarkets, according to a Which?’s eco-friendly grocer ranking (The Guardian).
Retailers endured a slow start to the year, with shopper numbers falling to 17% below pre-pandemic levels last month, according to research for the British Retail Consortium (The Times £).
Shares in Compass Group surged higher than any other FTSE 100 firm after the caterer reported a roaring improvement in trade (The Mail).
Compass Group all but completed its recovery from the pandemic yesterday when it comfortably beat consensus forecasts for first-quarter organic sales (The Times £).
Amazon’s stock jumped in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company announced a 17% increase in the price of its popular Prime membership scheme in the US (The Financial Times £).
The company said the rise did not apply to UK, where it charges £79 a year and has not raised prices since 2014 (The Telegraph).
Profits at Amazon rose unexpectedly in the last quarter as a lucrative investment in Rivian Automotive, the electric truck start-up, helped to offset surging inflation and labour costs (The Times £).
Amazon’s profits surged to $14.32bn in a fourth quarter marked by record holiday sales, the company said in its earnings report on Thursday (The Guardian).
Amazon has become the first company in history to make more than £100bn in a single quarter (The Mail).
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