This publication generally covers intelligence gathered from business contacts between late August 2016 and mid-October 2016. It generally makes comparisons with activity and prices over the past three months on a year earlier.
- Business sentiment had recovered further from its post-referendum fall, but remained relatively fragile alongside significant uncertainty around the longer-term outlook. Activity growth had remained resilient.
- A survey pointed to broadly stable or slightly lower investment spending over the coming twelve months (see box on page 2), with uncertainty concerning future demand and trading arrangements expected to drag on spending.
- Employment was expected to be broadly flat over the next six months and pay settlements were concentrated in the 1–3% range. Price pressures were building through supply chains following sterling’s depreciation, but there had been limited impact on consumer prices to date.
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Agents' scores