London's Economy Today - Issue 210 - February 2020

The overview

• UK GDP flat at the end of 2019.
• Coronavirus may dampen the Chinese economy.
• London productivity over 30% above the UK average.

Economic indicators

• New business activity in London was strong. The PMI New Business Index was 56.9 in London in January 2020 up from 53.8 in December 2019. This represents the highest level of the index since May 2017. An index reading above 50.0 indicates an increase in new orders from the previous month.
• House prices expectations in London in January 2020 were the highest since May 2015. In the three months to January 2020, surveyors reported the largest expectation of increases in London housing prices (43) since May 2015. This index was 29 in the previous period.
• Consumer confidence in London was negative in January 2020. The consumer confidence index remains quite volatile in London. This index was -4 in January 2020, down from 9 in December 2019. The GfK index of consumer confidence reflects people’s views on their financial position and the general economy over the past year and in the next 12 months. A score above zero suggests positive opinions; a score below zero indicates negative sentiment.

London's Economy Today supplement: Local authority spending in London since 2009/10

• Local government in London reduced spending on public services by 30% per capita between 2009/10 and 2018/19.
• Local government in London has offered relative protection to spending on statutory services.
• As a result spending on non-statutory services including planning, culture and youth services has been reduced by much more than overall spending.

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

• The main economic indicators for London are available to download from the Datastore.