London's Economy Today - Issue 194 - October 2018

The overview

• Difficult decisions around tax and spending for upcoming Budget
• Risks are building in the global economy
• London’s economy continues to expand

Economic indicators

• Continued growth in new business in London with the PMI New Business Index at 54.3 in London in September. An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month.
• In September, most surveyors continued to have negative expectations for the next three months for house prices in London. The RICS index was -47 for this month, down from -39 in August, representing the lowest value for the index since June 2016.
• Consumer confidence in London was neither positive nor negative in September at 0, down from 5 in August. The GfK index of consumer confidence reflects people’s views on their financial position and the general economy over the past year and in the next 12 months. A score above zero suggests positive opinions; a score below zero indicates negative sentiment.

London’s Economy Today supplement: Measuring economic fairness in London

• This work on economic fairness allows us to measure how fair and inclusive London’s economy is. A fair economy would be one where opportunity and prosperity are shared, so every Londoner can benefit from the city’s success. The set of measures are considered under three themes:

1. A labour market that works for everyone – this is concerned with workplace/employer-based issues and covers measures relating to the theme of pay differentials and measures relating to the theme of fair employment practices and representation
2. Equal opportunities – this covers a set of measures relating to accessing employment and measures relating to life chances such as school readiness, school achievement, skills as well as some relating to inequality and perceptions of fairness
3. Raising living standards – this spans a range of topics from lowering the costs of living and reducing poverty to financial inclusion.

• The measures are not intended to serve as a means of tracking the Mayor’s performance in addressing unfairness – for many of these issues, it is national government that holds that responsibility, through its public spending decisions or stewardship of the economy. These measures will help the Mayor to hold to account those with the ability to take action.

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

• The main economic indicators for London are available to download from the Datastore.