Lloyds Bank Business Barometer measure of confidence jumped by 10 points in August to 41%
- its highest since February 2022
- "The bounce in economic optimism this month is the stand-out point," Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds Bank, said. "Our analysis shows that businesses felt relief that interest rates may be reaching their peak, alongside hopes that measures to tackle inflation are having an impact."
- firms' hiring intentions were the strongest in 15 months
- share of businesses planning to increase staff wages was the highest since Lloyds began asking about pay in 2018, with 30% of firms predicting a 3% pay rise
- a net balance of 56% of firms intended to increase their prices
UK PM Sunak