The British public’s confidence in the economy recovered in August as the country appeared to shrug off concerns that the Brexit vote would harm prospects for jobs and higher wages. Confidence measures are watched closely by economists, who say a drop can cause people to stop spending, which hurts the economy and stifles investment. Jack Kennedy, a senior economist at the financial data provider, said that July represented a wobble following the Brexit vote. Major retailers including Tesco, Next and John Lewis say they have not been affected so far by the referendum result, and the British Retail Consortium said spending in shops bounced in July. The long-running GfK survey, Britain’s main gauge of consumer morale and considered a reliable indicator of future household spending over the years, suffered its sharpest drop since 1990 last month.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2016 18:11 UTC