London's Economy Today - Issue 212 - April 2020

The overview

• Number of coronavirus cases steadies as substantial economic costs become more apparent
• The economy is going through a significant contraction
• Household finances are deteriorating markedly

Economic indicators

• Passenger journeys in London plunge in March because of the lockdown restrictions. A total of 183.5 million passenger journeys were registered in March, 87.9 million less than the previous period. This is the largest drop since data was registered. 60.9 million of all journeys were Underground journeys while 122.5 million were bus journeys. Bus journeys fell by 42.6 million while Underground journeys did so by 45.3 million.
• New business activity in London reached a historic low in March. The PMI New Business Index went down to its lowest point in the recorded series (33.5) in London in March, from 54.2 in February. An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month.
• The consumer confidence index in London registered its sharpest fall ever in April (-22) from 2 in March, thus reaching its lowest level in seven years. 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: Early impact of government initiatives to address economic effects of the coronavirus

• The government initiatives provide a safety net of support to businesses and workers, both employees and self-employed, and increased the generosity of the welfare system. Implementation of the schemes is being rolled out.
• Schemes for workers - By 27 April, more than half a million claims had been made to the value of £4.5 billion through Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The parallel scheme for self-employed people, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, will invite applications in May.
• Government-backed loans for businesses - The Chancellor announced that £330 billion of funds had been set aside to guarantee up to 80% of loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
• Schemes to support household income - Additional support through the welfare system has been targeted on the lowest income households. The poorest fifth of households in London will realise an annual increase in disposable income of £460, or by 6%.

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

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