UK business sentiment improves in January, Institute of Directors says
Tweet
Share
E-mail
A drone view of London's Shard skyscraper with the Canary Wharf financial district in the background, two days before the government presents its critical pre-election budget, in London, Britain March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Yann Tessier
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - British businesses' confidence in the economic outlook has continued to improve from very weak levels, a survey for January showed, extending gains since finance minister Rachel Reeves' November budget imposed fewer immediate tax rises than feared.
The Institute of Directors said on Monday that optimism about prospects for the UK economy remained deep within negative territory, but it rose to -48 in January from -66 in December and was the highest level since last May. It hit an all-time low of -74 in September for the series, which started in 2016.
The upturn matches an improvement in other business surveys including preliminary purchasing managers' index data for January. Final PMI figures are due this week.
Businesses' confidence in their own operations also strengthened, rising to +14 from -4 as revenue and export expectations rose to their highest since September 2024 and July 2024 respectively.
Nonetheless, the businesses said they still intended to trim staff numbers and reduce investment, albeit to a lesser extent than before.
"After record weakness last year, January saw a welcome – and fairly chunky – rise in the confidence of business leaders," IoD Chief Economist Anna Leach said.
However she added: "Overall, there's a sense that, while revenues and general conditions have stabilised, businesses are not yet ready to increase either their capital or labour costs materially".
The IoD survey was conducted from January 16-28 and was based on response from 578 businesses, most of which employed less than 50 staff.
(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce and Susan Fenton)
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- India rate panel signals impending hikes, eyes inflation path to gauge timing
- Fish, ships and sovereignty: Iceland weighs its European future
- Nebius plans $4.5 billion convertible debt sale to fund data centers, AI platform
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
ReutersSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
