Insights & advice

Confidence In The Economy Keeps On Growing

Most of us tentatively feel that we are emerging from the other side of the worst recession in many years. With the number of jobs on the rise and industries showing growth again, many economists feel that the pain has passed and the British economy is on the rise again.
This seems to be borne out by the people in the UK too, as the GfK Index which reviews consumer sentiment, shows the biggest improvement in economic conviction in nearly 40 years.

The odd thing about the position of the consumer conviction index is that, although it has risen by 27 per cent and is out of negative territory for the first time in nine years, it has only reached zero. This means that there are an equal number of people who feel positive about their financial situation to those who feel negative about their financial circumstances.

GfK surveyed 2,000 people for their views on the economic outlook in Britain today and the main reason for their positivity was the rise in employment and job opportunities.
The Confederation of British Industry, the CBI, agree with the GfK position, saying that Britain was benefiting from more financial stability around the world and confidence of businesses and consumers alike.
In addition to these reports, growth forecasts given by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) were adjusted upwards from 2.8 to 3.1 percent and they estimated that growth in the UK would continue on a similar trend into 2015.

In fact, the evidence supports this ‘feeling’ too. Growth of 0.8 per cent in the first three months of 2014 started the year off with positive news and this performance continued into the second quarter, with retail, professional services and consumer services all achieving good growth.

One word of caution from the BCC was that Britain’s economy relies heavily on consumer spending, which causes problems during economic recovery, especially if consumers are being squeezed.
Over all though, with businesses performing more strongly than ever, maybe now is the time to set the wheels in motion and move forward with the business venture you’ve been dreaming about.
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