London's Economy Today - Issue 217 - September 2020

The overview

• UK recovery continued in July but social mixing restrictions are being tightened again
• Indicators show some recovery in London, but challenges remain high
• Brexit confusion and the ongoing pandemic will see London face a challenging end to the year

Economic indicators

• 103.9 million passenger journeys were registered between 26 July and 22 August this year, 15.0 million more than in the last period (27 June – 25 July) but still very low from a historic perspective. As a reference, passenger journeys in February – when there were no lockdown restrictions – were 271.4 million.
• The PMI New Business Index in London went up substantially in August (56.7) from 50.4 in July. This is the second month over 50.0 after four months of negative expectations (between March and June). An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month.
• Between June and August, surveyors reported positive expectations with regards to London house prices (18) for the first time since February. This index had shown negative figures since last March – it was -16 in July.

London's Economy Today supplement: GLA’s Second Adult Education Budget Data Publication

• The Adult Education Budget (AEB), devolved in August 2019 to the GLA, funds education and training for adults aged 19 and above. A range of data about the AEB programme is published quarterly in order to ensure transparency, engage stakeholders, and support learners and employers to make more informed decisions.
• In this article, GLA Economics presents key aspects, caveats and findings of the second AEB data release, covering the first three quarters of the 2019/20 academic year. Some key findings include:
  • The top 5 London Boroughs with the highest number of learners were Newham (10,550), Haringey (8,890), Southwark (8,690), Lambeth (8,600), and Brent (8,300).
  • Of the 196,850 participants in the first three quarters of 2019/20:
    • 70% were female (137,790 learners) and 30% were male (59,070);
    • 56% were from a Black or Minority Ethnic background (105,420 learners including Mixed, Asian, Black and Other Ethnic Group learners) and 44% were from a White background (84,040);
    • 10% were aged 19-23 (19,970 learners), 61% aged 24-49 (120,090), and 29% 50+ (56,790).

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

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