Hey monkeys,
Apparently U.K. consumers have cut back on spending for the third month in a row. Additionally, the growth of prices in the housing market has slowed sharply. The UK economy is taking quite a hit and the Bank of England lowered its growth forecasts last week.
The broad-based weakness is being blamed on a squeeze on pockets as inflation outpaces wage growth as well as concerns about the health of the economy. The latest figures leave both household expenditure and the property market at their weakest in more than four years.A report from IHS Markit and Visa showed that consumer spending dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year, with clothing, household goods, food and transport among the worst hit. Home-price increases weakened to an annual 2.1 percent in the past three months, its slowest since April 2013.
Forecasts for wage growths have been cut, consumers are experiencing an income squeeze, and it seems very unlikely that consumer spending will recover quickly under the UK's economic conditions.
Interestingly so...
The July consumer figures showed a 6 percent increase in spending at hotels, restaurants and bars. Markit said this may be partly related to an increase in “staycations,” with the weaker pound making foreign holidays more expensive. Sterling, little changed on Monday, has fallen 13 percent since the Brexit vote in June 2016.
What do you monkeys think of this? What kind of an effect will that have on the US' economy? Would a potential recession in the UK bring about a recession in the US? Are any of you traveling to the UK due to the weakening pound?
