Economic Indicators, July 2015

This month’s developments

Greek debt crisis continues

The long-running debt crisis took a surprising turn when the Greek Prime Minister announced on 26 June that Greece would hold a referendum on 5 July on whether to accept or reject the last proposal from the creditor institutions. Greek voters decisively backed ‘No’, with 61% of the electorate backing the government’s position.

Further information is available in the Library Briefing Paper, Greek debt crisis: background and developments in 2015.

Consumer confidence remains high

The GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Index remained at its highest level for 13 years in April.

Average earnings growth highest since 2009

Average employee pay excluding bonuses increased by 2.7% in the year to February-April 2015, the highest annual growth rate since December-February 2009.

First budget of the current Parliament on July 8^th

The July 2015 Budget, the first under a Conservative Government since 1996, comes at a time when the UK economy is generally performing strongly. GDP growth in 2014 was at its highest since before the recession, the proportion of people in work has reached record levels, and in 2016 unemployment looks set to return to its pre-crisis level. Economic growth is expected to remain healthy in 2015, despite a slowdown in Q1.

Further background is available in the Library Briefing Paper, Background to the July 2015 Budget.