Table of Contents
Economic Indicators
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- What you need to know
- The deepest recession since official records began…
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- Figure 2: Quarter-on-quarter change in GDP, Q1 2007-Q2 2020
- …but the recovery has started
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- Figure 3: Monthly change in GDP, segmented by sector, February 2020-June 2020
- Private consumption fell by 23% in Q2
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- Figure 4: Quarter-on-quarter change in private consumption*, Q1 2007-Q2 2020
- Retail sales rebounded in June
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- Figure 5: Annual change in the value of retail sales, including fuel, January 2007-June 2020
- Savings surged during lockdown
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- Figure 6: Monthly change in household deposits and quarterly household savings ratio, January 2015-June 2020
- Borrowing has started to recover but still way below usual levels
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- Figure 7: Monthly gross lending of consumer credit and secured loans, January 2015-June 2020
The Labour Market
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- What you need to know
- Stability in unemployment fails to show the impact of COVID-19
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- Figure 8: Unemployment rate, aged 16 and over, Q1 2007-Q2 2020
- Joblessness is rising…
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- Figure 9: Number of people employed in the UK, aged 16 and over, Q1 vs Q2 2020
- …but laid-off workers are not all looking for an immediate return to work
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- Figure 10: Number of people economically inactive in the UK, aged 16-64, Q1 2019-Q2 2020
- PAYE data shows a 730,000 drop in people receiving pay since March
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- Figure 11: Paid employees in the UK, seasonally adjusted, January-July 2020
Consumers’ Response to the EU Referendum Result
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- What you need to know
- A COVID summer of discontent for Brexit
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- Figure 12: Level of concern over the impact of the EU referendum, July 2016-July 2020
- Prices, jobs and growth continue to dominate consumers’ concerns
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- Figure 13: Consumer views on the impact of the EU referendum, July 2020
- 35-54-year-olds are the least positive
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- Figure 14: Agreement that Brexit will have a positive effect on “The UK’s economic growth”, “Unemployment” and “The cost of living”, by age, July 2020
Current Financial Situation
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- What you need to know
- Financial wellbeing has hit new highs
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- Figure 15: The financial wellbeing index, January 2015-July 2020
- A third have cash left over at the end of the month
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- Figure 16: “How would you generally describe your financial situation at the moment?”, July 2020
- Working differences help explain the overall resilience of wellbeing
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- Figure 17: Current financial wellbeing, by employment situation, July 2020
Changes in Financial Situation
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- What you need to know
- Sentiment has rebounded as the economy has opened up…
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- Figure 18: Changes in household finances, January 2015-July 2020
- …but consumers are still more likely to feel worse off than better off
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- Figure 19: “How would you describe your finances compared to a year ago?”, July 2020
- COVID-19 impact is easing but 27% are still worse off
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- Figure 20: Changes in financial situation since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK, June-August 2020
- Gen X have been hit the hardest
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- Figure 21: Changes in household finances, by generation, July 2020
Financial Confidence
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- What you need to know
- Consumers think the worst is behind them
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- Figure 22: The financial confidence index, January 2015-July 2020
- A third are pretty confident for the year ahead
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- Figure 23: “And how do you feel about your financial situation over the next year or so?”, July 2020
- COVID-19 expected to harm the economy, not necessarily individuals
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- Figure 24: Consumer views on the impact of COVID-19, 18-24 June 2020
Planned Financial and Spending Activity
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- What you need to know
- The recovery begins
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- Figure 25: The financial activity index, January 2015-July 2020
- Consumers continue to focus on saving
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- Figure 26: “Thinking about how you spend your money, which of the following have you done over the last three months? And which do you plan to do over the next three months?”, July 2020
- Most everyday spending categories are getting back to normal…
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- Figure 27: Expected spending compared to usual habits, 13-21 August 2020
- …but leisure is being held back by hygiene concerns
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- Figure 28: Consumers’ level of comfort doing various activities, 13-21 August 2020
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