Other Markit Economics Surveys

Report on Jobs

The monthly Report on Jobs has a proven track record of providing a reliable advance indicator of changes in UK labour market conditions, helping to identify trends in employment and employee earnings growth which are subsequently borne out by official data.

This report, produced monthly since 1997, is watched closely by the Bank of England, public and private sector economists, financial market analysts, the recruitment industry, human resource specialists and journalists.

The report is based on a monthly survey of recruitment consultants, tracking the demand for staff, wages and salaries and staff availability for both permanent and temporary employees. As such, the report provides unique data on a section of the labour market covered by no other surveys or official data on a high frequency basis.

The report is compiled by Markit on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG and published on the first Wednesday of each month.

Bellwether

The quarterly Bellwether report has been produced since 2000 and provides up-to-date information and historical data on changes to UK marketing budgets.

As marketing spend is usually discretionary, it can be easily and quickly cut or raised in response to a changing business environment. The Bellwether therefore acts as a useful leading indicator for those monitoring economic growth, corporate profits, consumer spending and other economic variables, as well as providing a unique guide to budget setting for marketing professionals and media analysts. In particular, since the survey began in 2000 it has accurately anticipated changes in ‘official’, Advertising Association (AA), adspend data.

The Bellwether is based on a questionnaire survey of around 300 UK-based companies that provide regular information on trends in their marketing activities. Participating companies therefore include a broad variety of advertisers in terms of market sector and geographical location. Respondents are primarily marketing directors or similar.

Questionnaires are dispatched to companies in the final three weeks of each calendar quarter, requesting information relating to two key issues:

(a) changes in the value of their marketing budgets and how those budgets have been allocated across activities such as media advertising, the internet, sales promotions, direct marketing etc.

(b) financial prospects for both the respondent’s company and industry as a whole.

The report is compiled by Markit on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and published on the second Monday of each quarter.

Cash Flow & Profits

The UK Quarterly Cash Flow & Profit Report is designed to provide a unique insight into cash flow and profitability trends and thereby fills a gap in the existing financial and economic data available to business decision-makers and economic policy makers.

The report, compiled since 1996, is based on a questionnaire survey of financial directors or persons in similar roles in around 300 UK-based companies. The panel of companies is carefully monitored to accurately reflect the true structure of the UK private sector economy, covering manufacturing, services, construction and distribution (retail and wholesale).

Data collected include actual % change in free cash flow, directional indicators of changes in profits and factors influencing profits, plus payment delay statistics. The report supplies an analysis by sector and by company size.

The report is compiled by Markit on behalf of Euler Hermes UK and published in the second month of each quarter.

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