LONDON (MNI) – Employment intentions suggest there will be further
jobs growth but the pace of recruitment is expected to slow, according
to the latest Bank of England Agents’ report.
The report, published alongside the October Monetary Policy
Committee minutes, said the anticipated slower pace of recruitment
reflected past hiring and “downward revisions to the outlook for
demand.”
Investment intentions had softened in recent months and some
capital spending plans had been put on hold because of the increased
uncertainty over the business outlook.
The report found some signs of reduced inflation pressure. There
was reported to be “little upward pressure on private sector total
labour costs, in part because of employees’ fears about job security.”
The rate of growth of output prices had slowed a little in recent
months while service fees had edged only gradually upwards.
The latest agents’ scores, for September, showed manufacturing
investment intentions fell to 1.7 from 1.9 in August, while services
investment intentions fell to 1.4 from 1.6.
Manufacturing employment intentions held steady at 1.0 while total
services employment intentions dropped to 0.3 in September from August’s
score of 0.4.
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 e-mail: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$$BE$]
