Closing post
Time to wrap up….
Millions of people are poised for an above-inflation 4.7% increase in their state pension payments, adding to pressure on the government finances as Rachel Reeves explores raising taxes at the autumn budget.
Labour has committed to retaining the triple lock on the state pension, which guarantees annual increases in line with whichever is the higher of 2.5%, inflation in September or annual earnings growth in the three months to July.
Official figures published on Tuesday show average weekly earnings including bonuses were 4.7% higher in May to July than in the same period a year earlier.
Experts said the increase put state pensioners in line for their payments to go up by that amount from next April because inflation in September – currently running at 3.8% – was unlikely to be higher.
A final decision will be taken by the government before the budget. However, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed on Tuesday that the triple lock promise would be honoured.
He said:
“That’s a commitment from the Labour government to the UK’s pensioners. It’s something that we said we’d do at the election and something that we will keep to.”
Jaguar Land Rover has extended its shutdown on car production, as Britain’s biggest carmaker grapples with the aftermath of a cyber-attack.
JLR said it would freeze production until at least next Wednesday, 24 September, as it continues its investigations into the hack, which first emerged earlier this month.
The manufacturer said:
“We have taken this decision as our forensic investigation of the cyber incident continues, and as we consider the different stages of the controlled restart of our global operations, which will take time.
“We are very sorry for the continued disruption this incident is causing and we will continue to update as the investigation progresses.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s US interest rate decision, a hawkish tone from the Fed could spark a ‘sell the news’ pullback in the markets.
So suggests Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investment and trading platform IG:
“Despite the dramatic build-up to tomorrow’s nailed-on rate cut, the dull reality is that a 25bps move is merely the expected result. What everyone is watching for is any hint of more cuts to come.
“Markets have merrily priced in a progression of easing moves in October and December, but if the committee strikes a more hawkish note, then we may finally see some volatility emerge with traders ‘selling the news’. This could well lead to an early-Autumn pullback in equity markets ahead of the next Fed meeting.”
