London's Economy Today - Issue 206 - October 2019

The overview

• The Government negotiates a new Brexit deal
• Growth in advanced economies remains subdued and global growth forecasts have been revised down
• The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 provided an updated picture of relative deprivation in London

Economic indicators

• TfL passenger journeys increased by 6.4 million in the last period. A total of 259.5 million passenger journeys were registered between 18 August and 14 September 2019; 99.4 million of these journeys were Underground journeys and 160.1 million were bus journeys.
• Business activity in London was broadly stagnant in September with the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showing Business activity at London private firms being broadly neutral in September (50.1), weaker than in August (51.7). Index readings above 50.0 suggest a month-on-month increase with the majority of firms reporting increased activity, while readings below indicate a decrease.
• Most surveyors reported a further fall in London house prices in the three months to September (a net balance of -36 compared to -35 in the previous period). This index has remained negative since February 2016.

London's Economy Today supplement: Productivity in London

• Increasing productivity is widely seen as a key enabler for improving living standards in the long term and as a necessary (but not in itself sufficient) condition for inclusive economic growth. This is a particularly relevant issue at a time when productivity in London has been growing at historically low rates, in line with the UK ‘productivity puzzle’ – the very slow growth in productivity since the financial crisis of 2008-09.
• This article looks at the reasons for the capital’s high overall level of productivity and the factors behind the sharp slowdown in productivity growth in the post-financial crisis period.

London’s Economy Today data on the Datastore

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