Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Business confidence in the UK has fallen to a four-month low, with Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer seeing a three-point drop to 44% in October. It remains above the survey’s long-term average of 29%, an indication that confidence is still high from a historical standpoint, although the latest reading reaffirms a slight loss of optimism since the summer.
This month’s decline in overall confidence reflects equal falls in firms’ trading prospects and optimism about the economy. Net hiring intentions, however, improved slightly, with over half of firms planning to raise their headcount in the next twelve months. Construction bucks the trend At the sector level, trading prospects eased for a third month in manufacturing and also fell in retail and services, while construction bucked the trend with a rise.
Four UK regions reported higher business confidence, including the North East where optimism was the highest. There were indications of lower expected average pay growth in the next twelve months, with the proportion expecting 3% or more rises down for a second month running. The net balance for own price expectations, meanwhile, fell four points to 61%, reversing part of last month’s increase.
Hann-Ju Ho, Senior Economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking, said “While overall business confidence dipped in October, it follows a sustained period of significant optimism, and business sentiment remains above historical levels. Encouragingly, many businesses remain confident in their own trading prospects, and the increase in hiring intentions suggests more employers want to grow their workforce.”