LONDON (Reuters) – British business confidence fell to its lowest level of 2024 in December but employers were a bit more optimistic about the wider economy, according to a survey published on Monday, while separate data showed a pre-Christmas rise in hiring and pay.
The Lloyds (LON:) Bank Business Barometer measure of confidence among companies fell by 2 points to 39%, still above its long-run average of 29%.
Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said the fall extended a drift down since the summer.
“The key difference in this month’s results is that the fall in confidence is driven by firms’ own trading prospects,” he said. “There was, however, more positivity regarding the wider economy and, going into 2025, this offers some hope if companies continue to feel confident about the economy.”
Britain’s economy contracted in September and October – the first consecutive monthly falls in output since the COVID-19 pandemic – as employers worried about the new government’s first budget which was announced on Oct. 30.
The Bank of England last week forecast zero growth in gross domestic product in the final quarter of 2024 but it kept i