UK borrowing costs jump again on fears Iran conflict will curb growth

Investors suspect rising oil and gas costs will stoke inflation and delay cuts in interest rates

Unemployment set to hit 5.3% this year amid ‘worrying’ rise in young jobless

OBR raises forecast from 4.9% and downgrades UK’s growth prospects for 2026 – while also warning of war uncertainty

Spring forecast show UK unempoyment to peak higher than feared, as tax take heads for a record, but headroom against fiscal rules has increased

With no spending or fiscal commitments to offer, the chancellor kept it short, sweet and just a little tin-eared

Attempt to project calm in spring forecast may be short-lived if living costs and unemployment keep climbing

The chancellor’s statement offered little new on tax or spending, but readers voiced concerns about rising costs

Olivier De Schutter says new economic agenda needed to tackle crises of rising inequality and ecological collapse

Unemployment predicted to continue rising to 5.3% as chancellor says she is meeting energy firms amid soaring oil and gas prices

FTSE 100 on track for its worst day in 11 months, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi also fall

ECB says Middle East war could cause higher inflationary pressure and warns of potential ‘sharp drop in output’

Warning comes as OBR projections in the spring forecast are expected to show public finances moving in the right direction

Europe and Asia will take an economic hit if the supply of Qatari LNG is halted by the closure of the strait of Hormuz

Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed and vessels rerouted, sending some freight costs surging

QatarEnergy says it has halted production of liquefied natural gas after attacks on Ras Laffan and Mesaieed sites

Rachel Reeves’s upcoming spring forecast has not led to slowdown, as property tax rumours did in November