Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Rachel Reeves used a brief speech to US investors at the British ambassador’s lavish residence in Washington last night, to acknowledge some of the downsides of globalisation, in a nod to Donald Trump’s stance.
As she prepares to meet Treasury secretary Scott Bessent today, Reeves said China’s entry into the global trading system 25 years ago had created “huge benefits in terms of cheaper goods, more innovation and more opportunities to trade”.
“They voted for change because they didn’t think that the economy worked well enough for them and their families. They saw the erosion of good jobs that paid a decent wage. They saw industries that once powered their towns disappear. And as elected politicians we have to respond to that”.
“Some may say that under this very consequential president we have at the moment, this is a rollercoaster period and therefore a challenge to us all. But we would say that a rollercoaster is fine, as long as we are rolling in the right direction.”
“Sales continued to grow in March as the sunshine and warm weather encouraged people to spend more. Clothing and footwear performed well as consumers sought to take advantage of the good weather and prepare for summer.
The sunny weather also gave a boost to garden supplies and DIY, as people spent more time outside.
“Mother’s Day and the spring sunshine saw retail sales rise by 0.4% in March. A positive surprise given that Easter hopped over into April this year – meaning March didn’t benefit from the holiday lift. It also marks the largest three-month rise in sales volumes since July 2021 – a sign there is some underlying resilience in shopper behaviour and the big discounts in the early part of the quarter brought back consumers.
Food sales saw a decline of 1.3%, likely due to people eating out and Easter not falling in March. But, we’d expect this to bounce back in April. Conversely, sales volumes in textiles, clothing, and shoes jumped by 3.7%, as people started getting ready for the spring.”
“March’s retail sales should be read with care as the ONS adjusts for the impact of Easter and school holidays falling in April this year. Continuing February’s improving trend, seasonally-adjusted retail sales rose again month-on-month, for the third consecutive month in volume terms.
Excluding petrol, retail sales volumes rose by a respectable 3.3%, which translated into 3.8% more pounds in the till compared with this time last year.
