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☆ Fall in UK jobs postings shows labour market is cooling, Adzuna says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Online job adverts fell by 1.6% in September from August, bucking the usual end-of-summer bounce in job postings, and advertised salaries fell by the same amount, Adzuna said. "September traditionally sees a surge in job market activity but the figures we're seeing this year could signal a cooling off of the job market, which had shown signs of resilience earlier in the year," Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said. The Office for National Statistics said earlier this month its measure of job vacancies fell to a two-year low of 988,000 in the three months to September. Separately on Monday, a survey showed small businesses recovering a bit of their lost confidence but the overall mood remained negative. Martin McTague, FSB's national chair, said the survey showed signs of stabilisation after 18 months of surging costs.

Persons: Adzuna, Andrew Hunter, BoE, Martin McTague, McTague, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg, Andy Bruce Organizations: Bank of England, National Statistics, Federation of Small, Hospitality, Thomson

☆ Analysis: Rate rises pile pain on SME firms in U.S. and Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chiara Elisei | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Summary SME vulnerability to rate hikes gone under radarUS, European credit conditions tighteningUK SMEs especially vulnerable -analystsLONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. and European small and medium-sized (SME) firms may be next to feel the pain of rapid interest rate rises, with analysts and investors warily watching for the impact of tighter credit conditions exacerbated by recent banking turmoil. In the U.S. the average rate that small businesses pay on bank loans rose from around 5% to 7.6% in 2022, and is likely to hit about 9.5% by mid-year, Jefferies analysts estimate. British SMEs, hurt by weak growth, double digit inflation and rising Bank of England rates, are seen as particularly vulnerable. "The Government needs to demonstrate that it is on the side of small businesses who are feeling stressed and under huge margin pressure," McTague added. HARD TIMESMeanwhile the rate of small business loan approval at big U.S. banks meanwhile fell in February for nine straight months and business loan approvals at small banks has also fallen, said online financing platform for small businesses Biz2Credit.

The current six-month programme of energy support that will expire at the end of March was predicted to cost 18.4 billion pounds when the government's budget watchdog published forecasts in November. The finance ministry has been looking at ways to pare back the energy support packages as it tries to stabilise the nation's public finances after the political and economic turmoil under former Prime Minister Liz Truss's short-lived government. Under the new programme, businesses rather than government will have to pay the extra costs if energy prices surge. Although they are now back around the same level as a year ago - and lower than when the current support package was announced - they are still several times higher than in early 2021. The government had originally been due to publish its proposals for business energy support before the end of 2022, but the decision was delayed, angering some businesses facing uncertainty over their energy bills.

☆ UK strikes: Nearly 200,000 British workers are striking on Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Postal workers are planning further strike action for November 30 and December 1, following walkouts in August and September. “Customers should expect delays to items posted just before, during or just after strike action,” Royal Mail said in a statement. Amid worker strikes, Royal Mail vehicles remain parked at the Tonbridge Delivery Office in Kent, England on November 24, 2022. Strike action will also add to losses facing companies and could prompt further job cuts. Royal Mail says it has not yet been formally notified of these dates.

Any crunch for Britain's small businesses, which often lack the scale to pass on cost rises to customers as easily as bigger rivals, could deliver a new economic body blow. "How are we going to get out of this hole if it's not small businesses? "But there's no question that small businesses now have less capacity to increase their borrowing because you've got a slowing economy." Indeed small companies in Britain see their access to credit at its worst level since 2015, according to a quarterly survey by the FSB of 1,383 small business owners. Many small companies have also yet to repay state-backed loans extended to prop them up during COVID lockdowns, making their credit profiles increasingly unattractive.

☆ Britain's businesses are 'running out of fight' as country faces longest-ever recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

U.K. businesses are bracing for a difficult winter amid soaring inflation and higher energy bills. Andrew Matthews - Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty ImagesLONDON — The doors to The 25, a Torquay-based boutique bed and breakfast on the U.K.'s southwest coast, are now closed for the winter period. With rising energy bills and higher costs piling pressure on U.K. businesses, owner Andy Banner-Price has deferred reopening by a month until well into the spring. The Bank of England has warned that the U.K. is facing its longest recession since records began a century ago. Huw Fairclough | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesUntil now, Holliday said his business has been "taking the hit" and absorbing increased production and energy costs to buffer customers.

☆ UK business confidence withers away, surveys show
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Confidence among British businesses has dropped precipitously, damaged by a toxic combination of rising costs and economic turmoil, surveys showed on Wednesday. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), a trade body, said its latest small business confidence index fell to -35.9 from -24.7, the worst reading outside of COVID-19 lockdowns. The surveys underline the threat of recession and scale of the task facing new finance minister Jeremy Hunt in turning Britain's economy around. "Recent political and economic turmoil hasn't helped, which is why it is vital the government focuses on stability," said FSB national chair Martin McTague. The FSB said 68% of small businesses had raised pay over the last year, with wage increases averaging 4.5%.

Joo and Shin voted for a smaller hike in the rate, Rhee said in news conference, but did not elaborate on their views. Twenty-three of 26 analysts expected the bank to go for a half-point hike in a Reuters poll, while the remaining three expected a quarter-point hike. The median forecast in the poll showed the BOK's base rate going to 3.25% by year-end and then peaking at 3.50% in the first quarter of 2023. Almost half of respondents in the Reuters poll expected the base rate to reaching 3.75% in the first quarter of next year. After Wednesday's rate hike, the Korea Federation of Small- to Medium-sized Enterprises expressed "serious concern" about higher rates.

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