LONDON (MNI) – The economic outlook has deteriorated but employment
intentions suggest job creation is going to be pretty mucus flat over
the next six months although investment intentions have weakened,
according to the latest Bank of England Agents’ report.
The report, published alongside the July BOE Monetary Policy
Committee minutes, also showed that while the BOE’s plans for credit
easing will be welcomed by small companies, they will be of little
interest to larger ones.
“Small firms were still often struggling to secure loans … In
contrast, larger businesses often had favourable access to credit, but
frequently had little appetite to borrow,” the report said.
Investment intentions “had softened a little but remained positive,
and there was a general sense of stepping back from expansion plans.”
With companies shelving whatever plans they had to expand “private
sector employers did not expect much change in staff numbers over the
next six months.”
The agents’ scores showed manufacturing employment intentions still
just in positive territory, unchanged at 0.2 in June, while total
services pointed to contraction at -0.2, slightly better than the -0.3
seen in May.
Investment intentions fell to 1.0 in June for manufacturing from
1.4 in May and held steady at 0.8 for services.
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 e-mail: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$$BE$]
