{"text":[[{"start":8.23,"text":"Higher energy prices will mean a fall in living standards for a typical UK household in the coming year, wiping out even the meagre income growth expected before the onset of the Iran war, according to new analysis."}],[{"start":23.46,"text":"The Resolution Foundation think-tank said in a report published on Monday that pricing in energy markets suggested the median working-age household would be £480 worse off over the financial year as a result of the conflict, with income falling 0.6 per cent rather than rising 0.9 per cent as previously expected, even after last week’s ceasefire."}],[{"start":47,"text":"“De-escalation is certainly welcome but damage to household finances this year is to a large degree already done,” said James Smith, chief economist at the Resolution Foundation."}],[{"start":60.24,"text":"“This squeeze will run right through the income distribution,” he added. “Lower-income households will still see some income growth, thanks to a long-awaited rise in real benefit levels, but inflation will likely knock more than a percentage point off what they stood to gain. For those in the middle and towards the top of the income distribution, even the thin growth they had been expecting has tipped into negative territory.”"}],[{"start":88.03,"text":"The think-tank is urging ministers to offer only targeted support to poorer households, because the UK’s public finances are not strong enough to offer expensive universal subsidies. "}],[{"start":102.53,"text":"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made it clear the government is in no position to repeat the £70bn subsidies to energy bills offered to all households after the energy shock sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."}],[{"start":118.57,"text":"“I will not repeat that same mistake,” she wrote in The Sunday Times, while adding that ministers would “have to respond” to the costs the Iran war would impose on both families and businesses. "}],[{"start":132.75,"text":"Later this week, Reeves added, she would set out the principles that would “guide how we support businesses”, which are also set to feel the effects of rising energy bills in the months ahead. "}],[{"start":145.58,"text":"So far, the government has offered only limited help to rural households who rely on heating oil, while bolstering the Competition and Markets Authority’s powers to clamp down on any price gouging. "}],[{"start":159.71,"text":"Drivers have already scaled back purchases at the pump as a result of the jump in fuel prices, putting less in their tank at each transaction, official data shows."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":170.16,"text":"The new inflationary shock compounds a difficult backdrop for UK households, who are already facing rising tax bills, slowing wage growth and a weakening jobs market. The Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal watchdog said in March it expected households’ disposable income to rise just 0.5 per cent a year on average for the rest of the decade. "}],[{"start":194.01,"text":"Many homeowners are also coming to the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals and are now likely to face higher borrowing costs on top of these pressures because hopes of rate cuts from the Bank of England have faded. "}],[{"start":208.39999999999998,"text":"A monthly survey of recruiters by KPMG and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, also published on Monday, pointed to an ongoing slowdown in hiring in March. Its index for permanent placements — the survey’s main measure of hiring activity — remained at 49.2 in March, below the reading of 50 that would signal unchanged activity. "}],[{"start":231.93999999999997,"text":"At the same time, many agencies reported that more candidates were applying for jobs because their previous employer had made redundancies after cost-cutting or restructuring. "}],[{"start":245.51999999999998,"text":"Recruiters have been reporting falls in vacancies for almost three years, with the latest KPMG/REC survey showing especially steep drops in low-wage sectors such as hospitality and retail, care and clerical occupations. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":261.9,"text":"Even in the public sector, where staff are usually better protected against cyclical downturns, job cuts are widespread. Unison, one of the main unions representing NHS workers, said on Monday that freedom of information requests had revealed plans to cut at least 21,000 roles at NHS trusts across England, including at least 3,600 clinical roles, by freezing recruitment, cutting the use of agency workers and restructuring. "}],[{"start":294.03,"text":"Data visualisation by Amy Borrett"}],[{"start":306.75,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776057930_6163.mp3"}