LONDON (MNI) – Employment growth is set to be modest over the next
12 months, with employment intentions softening, according to the latest
Bank of England Agents Report.
The agents’ scores showed manufacturing employment intentions fell
to 1.3 in July from 1.5 in June and total services employment intentions
fell to 0.4 from 0.5. The survey suggests the weakness of the UK
recovery is feeding through to hiring plans.
The survey showed investment intentions were little changed. The
score for manufacturing was 2.3 in July, up from 2.2 in June but the
same reading as in April and May. Service sector investment intentions
were unchanged at 1.6.
“Firms planned further investment to find efficiencies and in some
cases build capacity, but the growth rate of capital spending was
expected to level off,” the report said.
The BOE agents report was issued on the same day as the latest
labour market data showed a marked rise in claimant count unemployment,
which was up 37,100 on the month in July while employment growth also
slowed, rising by 25,000 in the three months through June.
–London newsroom 0044 20 7862 7491; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com
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