10 things you need to know about Britain's economy before you vote in May
GDP growth has been much more consistently decent since the middle of 2013, as this UBS chart shows — though the most recent data showed an expansion of just 0.3%.
After two years of stagnation under the Coalition, employment rates began to surge in 2012, hitting record highs, as this Oxford Economics chart shows.
But this chart from Citi shows why lots of people may not be feeling the upswing — the jobs created are overwhelmingly in sectors which are generally paid much less.
And as a result, wage growth has been very slow. In real terms (after inflation), wages have fallen for most of the last 5 years, as this chart from Rabobank shows.
Here's Credit Suisse, showing that though the UK economy as a whole reached a new peak size in 2013, services have steamed ahead, while manufacturing is well behind.
UK businesses are becoming more worried about the election, and a potential EU referendum, according to this chart from Capital Economics, using numbers from Deloitte.
Despite those concerns, BNP Paribas analysts noted that the share of British exports that go to countries in the EU has been declining.
Who wins may not matter enormously for the UK's fiscal position — according to HSBC no party has a consistent record of being prudent.
A chart from Barclays illustrates that though spending has dropped, tax receipts have not rebounded as much, and as such the deficit is still large.
In comparison to other countries, this Goldman Sachs illustration shows that spending cuts have been middling — and significantly lower than the US.
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement