Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- BoE governor: UK recovery will take longer than thought
- Fed’s Powell: inflationary supply chain problems may persist
- Fuel crisis: UK government mobilises reserve tanker fleet and army
- Transport bosses call on governments across world to ease Covid restrictions
Virgin Money has announced it will close 31 branches – almost all in Scotland and the north of England – in the latest stage of the UK banking sector’s retreat from the high street.
The bank said it expected to make 112 people redundant because of the closures after the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the shift to online and mobile app-based banking, a move that has rapidly reduced the profitability of physical bank branches.
Related: Virgin Money to close 31 branches across Scotland and north of England
In better news, the UK economy grew faster than expected over the summer.
Official figures have been revised to show that GDP expanded by a pacey 5.5% over the April-June period, up from an initial estimate of 4.8%.
GDP grew by 5.5% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2021, revised up from the previous estimate of 4.8%.
Today’s data include various improvements to sources and methods and are consistent with our annual Blue Book, published next month https://t.co/grZbF2XbDE pic.twitter.com/uHkmKEUtNX
“Household saving fell particularly strongly in the latest quarter from the record highs seen during the pandemic, as many people were again able to spend on shopping, eating out and driving their cars,”
.@jathers_ONS continued: (2/3) pic.twitter.com/ep8ApbgEL6
Commenting on household saving, @jathers_ONS said: (3/3) pic.twitter.com/6Nwx2Xa5LH
Overall, while the upward revisions to GDP are clearly welcome, Q2 was three months ago, and the recovery appears to have stagnated since.
Even so, given that there is now thought to be less spare capacity in the economy that will only encourage the Bank of England to hike rates in the not too distant future.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3F0D5gV
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