The implications of lower quality UK economic data

Today’s announcement of a two-week delay to the release of July's retail sales figures due to quality concerns is the latest in a series of errors, delays and suspensions that have undermined confidence in the economic data published by the ONS. Because of this, we are resending our analysis of the quality of the UK’s economic data, which highlights how low-quality economic data can lead to inefficient policy choices.

Our proprietary data help provide a clear read on the UK economy. In March we launched our CE UK Employment Indicator to provide an alternative read on the UK jobs market. We have now expanded our proprietary data series to provide clients with a clearer read on unemployment. (See here and here.)