Bank of England sees Brexit impact on jobs and investment

British investment and employment are likely to be flat over the coming year because of the June vote to leave the European Union, according to a Bank of England survey of businesses that leaves it on track to cut interest rates again this year.

The BoE’s regional agents, who speak to companies around the country, found signs of resilience in consumer spending and the housing market so far. But they also detected a growing reluctance among businesses to hire and invest.

“Investment and employment intentions had fallen, and were consistent with broadly flat levels of capital spending and employment over the coming six to 12 months,” the BoE said.

Its survey showed the weakest investment plans among British companies since 2010.

The BoE has said it expects Britain’s growth rate to more than halve next year to 0.8 percent. On Wednesday the Paris-based OECD think tank halved its forecast for British economic growth in 2017 to 1.0 percent.

Also on Wednesday, Britain’s official statistics office said the referendum appeared to have had little impact on the economy so far, but the longer-term effects remained unclear. Read more….