What does 0.1% economy growth really mean for you? How it affects jobs, saving money and more explained
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A bank, a hiring firm and wealth managers weigh in on what economic growth means for everyday people. The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in November, the Office for National Statistcs (ONS) has announced, following consecutive months falling by the same amount beforehand.
In economics circles, this - along with slower inflation and slightly falling gilt yields following a concerning, sharp rise - is being celebrated as minor wins and breathing space for the Labour government and chancellor Rachel Reeves, who says she will “fight every day” to bring meaningful, ongoing growth to the country, while prime minister Keir Starmer says it’s “a step in the right direction, but there’s much, much more we’ve got to do”.
This is all well and good for leaders, policy makers and those who deal in decisions at the top of the nation, but what does it actually mean?. And perhaps more importantly, what does it affect on an ongoing, day-to-day basis for the everyday person? Let’s face it: if a sign in a shop window says “sale! 0.1% off!”, the chances are you’re probably not going to be too interested in immediately buying. So, is the amount even notable?.
To help explain these figures and what it all means in real terms, we’ve asked the experts from key areas such as banking, job recruitment and money managing to break down how economic growth ties in to real lives. It’s worth knowing first of all what “the economy” is, of course. In very simple terms, it can be thought of as the rate at which the country as a whole produces, buys and sells goods and services - how the country trades to produce wealth. Naturally that wealth is dispersed across businesses, people and organisations, but as a whole, it feeds into the entire system which branches out into everything from taxes to pocket money.
