Up, down or round about

Monday gave us inflation down to 4.0% from 4.4% last month, yesterday we heard that employment was up by 17,000 in the 3 months to the end of February and today we have Debenhams and WHSmith showing significant rises in half year profits amongst retail sales which are down 2% overall.

So how is the economy looking?

Nobody really knows and we won’t know for another couple of weeks until we have first quarter GDP figures, but I get the feeling it won’t be good news.

What this means for interest rates is that we are unlikely to see a rate rise in the near future. Any rise in interest rates could tip the economy over the edge. Households are struggling to make ends meet and if mortgage costs are increased it could be a step too far.