The Bank of England has held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.75 per cent, in line with expectations. The BoE's nine-member rate-setting committee voted unanimously for no change.
The OECD meanwhile has warned that the world economy faces its worst growth in a decade, pointing to the increasing threat posed by Donald Trump's trade war with China.
The organisation slashed its forecast for global growth this year from 3.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent and also significantly downgraded its outlook for next year.
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The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates at 0.75 per cent when its Monetary Policy Committee reports at midday.
Before that the latest retail sales figures are about to be revealed. Will consumers continue to be resilient in the face of Brexit uncertainty?
Next boss Lord Wolfson has told the PA news agency that he will cut prices by around 2 per cent if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Retail sales hold up despite Brexit woes
Retail sales grew 0.6 per cent in the latest quarter, a slight improvement that shows consumers are still spending despite political turmoil
However, the pace of growth has slowed from a peak in March and the trend is downward:
£60bn of government support needed to reduce damage of no-deal, says think tank
The government should deliver a £40bn "stimulus package" of additional public spending and tax cuts to soften the blow of a no-deal Brexit, the Resolution Foundation has said.
According to the think tank, a further £20bn should be offered to help companies deal with trade disruption.
James Smith, research director of the Resolution Foundation, said:
"The Government says it wants to leave the EU with a deal, but has also made it clear that it is prepared to leave without one."The Government and Bank of England therefore need to be ready to respond with a bold package of measures to limit the damage to households and firms of a no-deal Brexit."Unlike in the past, the Chancellor will need to take the lead in this response. He should announce a significant stimulus package of tax cuts and spending increases to support households in the face of a no-deal economic shock, as well as measures to help firms through the temporary turbulence many are likely to face."
Month-to-month, sales fell 0.2 per cent in August but a number of analysts have said this was predictable.
"Following two consecutive monthly gains, a fall in sales in August was always likely," says Andrew Wishart, UK Economist at Capital Economics.
"In the event, sales fell by 0.2% which dragged annual sales growth to a three month low. However, with real wages growing at their fastest pace since June 2016 we doubt sales growth will ease off any further.
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY Item club says the August slide could be indicative of wider problems.
"The soft retail sales add to the impression that the economy had a challenging August after GDP rebounded 0.3% month-on-month in July, although the economy will have been helped by the fact that car manufacturers brought forward their usual summer shutdowns to April (due to Brexit concerns) from August."
OECD slashes global growth forecast to lowest since great recession
The global economy is set for its slowest growth since the aftermath of the financial crisis a decade ago, according to the The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD has slashed its forecast for global growth in 2019 from 3.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent, warning of increasing risks to the global economy from a US-China trade war.
Next year, the OECD predicts growth of 3 per cent, significantly lower than its previous forecast of 3.4 per cent.
Tesla takes on Porsche
Elon Musk's electric car company wants to take on the engineering might of Porsche by beating it in a time trial around Germany's fables Nuerburgring race track.
Tesla's Model S recorded an unofficial time that was faster than Porsche's rival electric car, the Taycan, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
An official record attempt for four-door electric cars is set for this Saturday. Neurburgring records have frequently been used by as a marketing tool by car makers who claim that they are a demonstration of technical superiority.
Such bragging rights will be much-prized by Mr Musk, an early entrant into the electric car business who is now facing competition from the likes of Audi, Mercedes and BMW as they launch their own models.
The OECD also says that Brexit will slash 3 per cent of UK GDP over the next three years.
By contrast, the EU faces just a 0.6 per cent hit.
“The best thing is to avoid a no-deal Brexit and to stay as closely aligned to the EU as possible,” says Laurence Boone, the OECD’s chief economist.
'Persistently low growth'
The OECD's assessment is pretty bleak, particularly about the impact of trade tensions surrounding Brexit and Donald Trump's tariff war.
The economic outlook is deteriorating, for both advanced and emerging economies, and global growth may remain stuck at a persistently low level in the absence of strong policy measures.
The exacerbation of trade conflicts is increasingly weighing on confidence and investment, which increases policy uncertainty, exacerbates capital market risks, and jeopardizes the already weak growth that is taking place. draws in perspective on a global scale.
Debenhams wins court battle against Mike Ashley's Sports Direct
Debenhams' programme of store closures will go ahead under a CVA insolvency process as planned after the department store chain won a case in the High Court brought by Sports Direct.
Mike Ashley's firm and a number Debenhams' landlords had challenged the terms of the turnaround plan, which saw rents on stores slashed and the value of Sports Direct's stake in Debenhams wiped out.
Bank of England interest rates decision
The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee has left its benchmark rate on hold at 0.75 per cent, as expected.
The MPC's nine members voted unanimously in favour of keeping rates where they were.
Bank of England interest rates decision
The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee has left its benchmark rate on hold at 0.75 per cent, as expected.
The MPC's nine members voted unanimously in favour of keeping rates where they were.
Looking at the MPC's report, the Bank of England has downgraded its forecast for the third quarter to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent in its quarterly inflation report in August.
With interest rates being kept unchanged, eyes to what the BoE has said in its report.
On jobs:
"The labour market does not appear to be tightening further, however, with official and survey measures of employment growth softening."
On Brexit:
"In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the exchange rate would probably fall, CPI inflation rise and GDP growth slow."
Interest rate reaction
The BoE has a tricky balancing act on its hands when it comes to future interest rate decisions, says PwC chief economist John Hawksworth.
On the one hand, the tight labour market has pushed earnings growth up to around 4 per cent at a time when productivity growth remains very subdued.The consequent increase in unit labour costs might normally cause the MPC to consider edging interest rates up to head off potential future inflationary pressures, even though current inflation is slightly below target.But offsetting this will be the dampening effect of Brexit-related uncertainty on UK business investment and the housing market. Jobs growth has also slowed in recent months and today's retail sales data showed a dip in August.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary's €99m pay has sparked anger
Michael O'Leary and the company he runs are rarely very far from some form of controversy and today is no different.
Just 50.5 per cent of the Irish airline's shareholders voted in favour of a pay deal that could hand O'Leary €99m (£88m).
Ryanair is already facing strike action from pilots and has cut jobs.
Palm oil industry 'to blame for at least 39% of forests lost in Borneo since 2000'
Researchers in Indonesia have found that palm oil production, and the slash and burn methods that sometimes go with it, have resulted in the loss of 2.4 million hectares of Borneo's forests since 2000.
At a "conservative" estimate he amount accounts for 39 per cent of all forest area lost in that time, says the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
The majority of the island is divided between Indonesia and Malaysia which between them produce around 85 per cent of the world's palm oil, a product estimated to be found in half of the goods on supermarket shelves.
US jobless claims rise less than expected
Some better economic news for Donald Trump after a string of negative indicators: claims for unemployment benefit rose by just 2,000 to 208,000 last week.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims increasing to 213,00 in the latest week.
The UK jobs market had recently been showing signs of slowing down.
Brexit: Boris Johnson urged to spend £60bn to limit impact of no deal
The government will need to spend much more than previously estimated to limit the short-term damage to families and firms from a no-deal Brexit, adding £60bn to its borrowing in the first year alone, according to a report.
The document by the Resolution Foundation argues for a massive package of measures, including temporary tax cuts and emergency loans, to soften the impact. Even so, the think tank warns the measures will inevitably fall far short of eliminating the economic damage of an abrupt exit.
The scale of recommended spending is much larger than the amount the already-indebted government can borrow in the 2020-21 fiscal year without breaking its self-imposed borrowing limit.
Here's the full story from Olesya Dmitracova:
Diageo warns over global trade tensions
The world's largest maker of alcoholic drinks has warned that it is "not immune" from changes to global trade policy.
Diageo, which owns hundreds of well-known brands such as Smirnoff, Guiness and Moet & Chandon, said it would continue to closely monitor any movement in tariffs.
European luxury goods including whisky, Champagne and wine, face new tariffs on exports to the US, after Donald Trump's latest trade salvo was deemed legal by the World Trade Organisation.
Saga apologises after advertising 'Brits only' cruise
Over-50s travel firm Saga has been criticised for one of its brochures which advertised cruises "exclusively for Brits".
One Twitter user, Anthony Bale, said his mother had been "outraged" by the promotion.
Saga has apologised.
