Weekly Digest – 08 May 2024

Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.

Booming business optimism reported by Lloyds Business Barometer

UK business confidence is “blooming into spring,” reports the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer as it finds confidence remained steady for a second month at a high level.

Time to renew for tax credits customers

Around 730,000 tax credits customers will start receiving their annual renewal notices from this week. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said tax credits claimants will receive them between 2 May and 19 June 2024.

The industries with the least redundancies – as UK continues to climb out of recession

Following a further 0.1% GDP recovery as the UK continues to climb out of a recession, new research has revealed the industries that made the fewest redundancies in the last year.

Economic confidence of business leaders continues to edge up in April

The IoD Directors’ Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, rose to -10 in April 2024 from -12 in March.

UK outlook tough despite imminent recession exit

UK poised to emerge from recession as business confidence hits two-year high. However, emerging challenges may hinder progress. ICAEW’s Economies Director Suren Thiru discusses the key points to watch.

Top forecaster says UK economy has reasons to be cheerful with stagnation to fall away

According to forecaster Oxford Economics, the UK economy has started to show signs of significant growth, which could indicate it’s set to break away from the stagnation of the past two years.

How can public investment in research improve UK economic performance?

Public investment in scientific endeavour is essential for the success of UK business and industry – and, more broadly, for a productive economy, a healthy society and a sustainable world. A report written early in the 2010s laid out the evidence on the central role of research for our future.

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