Inflation Report
May 2014
Output and supply
Chart 3.1 GDP and sectoral output(a)
(a) Chained-volume measures. GDP is at market prices. Indices of sectoral output are at basic prices. The figures in parentheses show 2010 weights in gross value added.
Chart 3.2 Estimates of quarterly GDP growth(a)
Sources: BCC, CBI, CBI/PwC, Markit Economics, ONS and Bank calculations.
(a) Chained-volume measures. GDP is at market prices. The magenta diamond shows Bank staff’s central projection for the preliminary estimate of GDP growth for Q1 at the time of
the February Report. The green diamond shows the current staff projection for the preliminary estimate of GDP growth for Q2. The bands on either side of the diamonds show
uncertainty around those projections based on staff estimates of the root mean squared error of forecasts for quarterly GDP growth made since 2004.
(b) This projection differs from the MPC’s best collective judgement of the final estimate of GDP growth for Q2, used to construct the GDP fans, which is 0.9%.
(c) The latest backcast, which is shown to the left of the dashed vertical line in Chart 5.1, is a judgement about the path of GDP in mature estimates of the data.
(d) Three measures are produced by weighting together sector surveys from the BCC (domestic sales in manufacturing and services), CBI (volume of output in manufacturing; volume
of business in financial services, business/consumer services and distributive trades), and Markit/CIPS (volume of output in manufacturing; business activity in services), using
nominal shares in value added. The BCC data are non seasonally adjusted. The aggregate measures have been adjusted to have the same mean and variance as quarterly
GDP growth over the period 1999 Q1–2014 Q1.
Chart 3.3 Contributions to the change in whole-economy
employment since 2008 Q2(a)
Source: Labour Force Survey.
(a) Rolling three-month measure. First data point is June 2008. Contributions may not sum to total due to rounding.
(b) Comprises unpaid family workers and those on government-supported training and employment programmes classified as being in employment.
Chart 3.4 Self-employment share(a)
Source: Labour Force Survey.
(a) Percentage of LFS total employment. Rolling three-month measure. First data point is May 1992.
Chart 3.5 Bank staff projection for the near-term headline
LFS unemployment rate(a)
Sources: Labour Force Survey and Bank calculations.
(a) The magenta diamonds show Bank staff’s central projections for the headline unemployment rate for December 2013 and January, February and March 2014 at the time of the
February Report. The green diamonds show the current staff projections for the headline unemployment rate for March, April, May and June 2014. The bands on either side of the
diamonds show uncertainty around those projections based on staff estimates of the root mean squared error of past forecasts for the three-month LFS unemployment rate.
Chart 3.6 Survey indicators of capacity utilisation(a)
Sources: Bank of England, BCC, CBI, CBI/PwC, ONS and Bank calculations.
(a) Measures are produced by weighting together surveys from the Bank’s Agents (manufacturing and services), the BCC (non-services and services) and the CBI (manufacturing,
financial services, business/consumer services and distributive trades) using nominal shares in value added. The surveys are adjusted to have a mean of zero and a variance of
one over 1999 Q1 to 2007 Q3. The BCC data are non seasonally adjusted.
Chart 3.7 Components of labour market slack(a)
Sources: ONS (including the Labour Force Survey) and Bank calculations.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Standard deviations are calculated over the period 1992–2007. The final data points are staff estimates for 2014 Q1.
Percentage difference between Bank staff’s estimate of the medium-term equilibrium level of average weekly hours worked and average weekly hours worked.
Difference between the participation rate and Bank staff’s estimate of the medium-term equilibrium participation rate.
Difference between Bank staff’s estimate of the medium-term equilibrium unemployment rate and the unemployment rate.
Chart 3.8 Regional unemployment rates
Source: Labour Force Survey.
Chart 3.9 Contributions to hourly labour productivity(a)
Sources: ONS (including the Labour Force Survey) and Bank calculations.
(a) Whole-economy output per hour. Contributions may not sum to total due to seasonal adjustment.
(b) The final observations are based on Bank staff projections for 2014 Q1. The error bands around those projections are wide.
Tables
Table 3.A Monitoring the MPC’s key judgements
Table 3.B Unemployment rates and flows from unemployment
to employment by duration of unemployment
Sources: Labour Force Survey and Bank calculations.
(a) Data for the three months to February 2014.
(b) Percentages of the 16+ economically active population.
(c) Flows into LFS employment each quarter by those who had been unemployed for the specified duration as percentages of the number of people who were unemployed for that
duration in the previous quarter. Data exclude participants of government-supported training and work placement schemes.
Table 3.C Indicators of labour market slack
Sources: CBI, CBI/PwC, ONS (including the Labour Force Survey) and Bank calculations.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Unless otherwise stated.
The figure for 2014 Q1 shows data for the three months to February.
Number of vacancies (excluding agriculture, forestry and fishing) divided by LFS unemployment. Average is since 2001 Q2.
As reported to the LFS. Percentage of LFS total employment.
Percentages of respondents to the CBI surveys expecting skilled labour to limit output/business over the next three months (in the manufacturing sector) or over the next
twelve months (in the services sector). Averages are since 1998 Q4.
Percentages for the financial, business/consumer services sectors are weighted together using employee jobs shares from Workforce Jobs.
Table 3.D Average weekly hours worked and a measure of
‘desired’ hours
Sources: ONS (including the Labour Force Survey) and Bank calculations.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Quarterly averages.
Unless otherwise stated.
Three months to February.
Actual hours worked adjusted for the difference between actual and desired working hours of those in work. Based on the methodology set out in Bell, D and Blanchflower, D (2013),
‘How to measure underemployment?’, Peterson Institute for International Economics Working Paper No. 13-7. Based on LFS microdata that have been seasonally adjusted by
Bank staff. Average since 2001 Q2.
Self-employment and labour market slack
Table 1 Self-employment rates by age group(a)
Sources: Labour Force Survey and Bank calculations.
(a) Percentages of employment in the relevant age group, calculated from the LFS microdata.