Weekly Digest – 16 August 2023

Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.

Artificial Intelligence: A Revolution on Par with the Industrial Revolution?

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has highlighted the potential of AI to enhance productivity and streamline mundane tasks.

Electoral Commission data breach: hackers access voter details in cyber attack

The UK’s Electoral Commission has confirmed that it fell victim to a cyber attack, resulting in hackers gaining unauthorized access to voter details, potentially impacting tens of millions of citizens.

Gloomy new economic forecast from NIESR

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has issued a new forecast for the progress of the UK economy, concluding that the UK economy is only expected to recover to it’s pre-COVID size in late 2024.

UK economy faces ‘stuttering growth’ due to higher interest rates

The UK economy will witness “stuttering growth” over the next two years amid pressure from higher interest rates and increased unemployment, according to a think tank.

Business groups urge UK to scrap hike in migrant worker visa fees

Business groups have called on the government to scrap its planned increase in visa fees for migrant workers, arguing the change will make it harder to deal with ongoing labour shortage

UK business confidence slides and hiring falls

Hiring intentions and business confidence saw declines across both the services and manufacturing sectors in July with economic growth set to slow, according to the latest Business Trends report.

UK Businesses Need 11 Million New Graduates

Universities UK’s new report, Jobs of the future, reveals more than 11 million extra graduates will be needed to fill jobs in the UK by 2035, in addition to the 15.3 million graduates currently in the UK workforce.

Fifth of UK importers altered supply chains due to global tensions, with China in focus

More than a fifth of UK importers have been forced to alter supply chains as a result of geopolitical tensions, with China in sharp focus, a new survey has found.

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