She also announced that the National Living Wage would rise by 6.7 per cent to £12.21 per hour, while business rates relief would be slashed from 75 per cent to 40 per cent up to a cap of £110,000 per firm.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that employer NI contributions would increase from 13.8 per cent on annual salaries above £9,100 to 15 per cent on pay exceeding £5,000.
Yet both the service and manufacturing sectors experienced a significant slump in export orders to developed markets like the US and the European Union.. Britain's gross domestic product only increased by 0.1 per cent between October and December 2024, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
S&P Global said pay pressures have led to average cost burdens jumping in February at the quickest pace for 21 months and input cost inflation accelerating for the fourth successive month.
The closely-watched Flash S&P Global UK Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for February shows firms were shedding jobs at the quickest pace since November 2020, when England began its second national Covid-19 lockdown.
