British households will be on average £2,320 (USD$2,996) worse off this year as wages fail to keep pace with rising energy and fuel costs, representing the biggest fall in living standards since records began.
That is the conclusion of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which said that the increase in the energy price cap by Ofgem means the average household will pay 54 percent more for their energy bills than six months ago and 73 percent more than a year ago. [bold, links added]
That increase will drive a three percent fall in real disposable incomes this year, the CEBR says, equivalent to a £2,320 (USD$2,996) hit per household.
Last month the Office for Budget Responsibility said that rising inflation would result in real disposable incomes falling by 2.2 percent in 2022-23.
The Bank of England has forecast that the headline inflation rate will rise to eight percent in the coming months from its February level of 6.2 percent and possibly rise even higher later this year, far outstripping wage growth.
Business insolvencies rose to the highest level in almost eight years during the fourth quarter of last year, according to figures from the Insolvency Service, a government agency, while the number of registered company insolvencies in February was also 13 percent higher than pre-pandemic.
The CEBR said that even accounting for moderate employment growth over the coming quarters, the unemployment rate could rise to 4.6 percent by the fourth quarter, up from 3.9 percent at present.
“It could be the first sign of a broader economic slowdown caused by the energy crisis,” it said.
Read more at The Times
Make the Eco-Freaks and heir idiot supporters pay for it all