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How FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam Is Adapting to a Post-Pandemic Economy

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How FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam Is Adapting to a Post-Pandemic Economy

Raj Subramaniam became FedEx’s second ever CEO in the company’s 53-year history when he replaced founder Fred Smith in June 2022. It was a difficult time to take the helm: after the exuberance of runaway online shopping during the pandemic, global demand had began to slow significantly. Subramaniam even warned of a worldwide recession in September of that year, causing his company’s stock to plummet.

FedEx and its competitors are still adapting to a world without as much online shopping, and Subramaniam has had to make adjustments. He said in 2023 that the company would combine all of its ground, air, and other operations as part of a $4 billion savings plan, and the company cut tens of thousands of workers. The moves appear to have stabilized the company. Its shares are trading near pandemic highs, and in June FedEx reported an improvement in quarterly revenue after six straight quarters of declines.

During conversations in May and August, Subramaniam spoke to TIME about his upbringing, his career at FedEx, and the company’s future.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.  

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I know that you studied chemical engineering in India and the U.S.—how did you get into the corporate world?

Having grown up in India, I had two choices, either be an engineer or a doctor. My mother was a doctor, and there’s no way I was going to do that—I definitely did not have that skill set. And in India, there was a well-worn path—but a very narrow path—that some of the top students got scholarships to go to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in engineering. That was the path that I took, but once I got here, when I was doing my master’s in chemical engineering, I figured out that a job in engineering wasn’t what I was going to do. I decided that I was going to pursue a business career, and went on to do an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. 

What attracted you to FedEx specifically after you got your MBA?

Well, let’s call it a process of elimination. It was 1991 and we were in the depths of the recession. People like me who didn’t have a green card had a very, very tough go of it. So I had applied to several companies and made it past the first round of interviews, but when they figured out that I did not have a green card, I got eliminated. It was well past my graduation date—I graduated in May, but it was August—and FedEx came to campus. I remember walking into the interview and basically saying, ‘Listen, I don’t have a green card.’ And they looked at me and said: “Let’s first figure out whether you have what it takes to do a job at FedEx, and then let’s worry about the paperwork.” That was the first company who said that, and the rest is history.

You’ve been at FedEx since 1991—what was your first job at the company?

I started off as an associate marketing analyst in the international division, in Memphis. That job is the lowest level in marketing. But the interesting thing was that it was an international area, and FedEx was expanding internationally at that point. I heard our chairman talk about how our network is the product, and that folks in marketing should be in charge of design of the network. The idea of the network was foreign language to most people in marketing, but here my unique combination of engineering and business came into play, and here I was at the bottom of the pyramid, but saying, ‘Hey, put me in, chief.’ 

Most people don’t stay at a company for that long, have you ever thought about trying something else?

I am more the rule than the exception. People stay at FedEx for a long, long time—I think there’s something about FedEx that really holds people. It has a good people culture, and you get to do different things over the course of your career, so I never had the inclination ever to actually look for anything else.  I always felt within FedEx that someone was looking out for my comfort zone. And the minute I got a little bit comfortable, I got moved into another assignment or something else got added. That challenge and excitement appeals to me and I kept going.

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Who do you look to for leadership lessons?

Growing up, it was definitely my dad. He was in the police, and he was absolutely fearless and very decisive. Over time, I’ve realized that he’s also extremely well read. His decisiveness came because of his experience and the fact that he had knowledge of a lot of things. 

Coming into FedEx at a very early age, I’ve also been mentored in many ways by Fred Smith. His leadership style is just extraordinary. He’s got this uncanny ability to see around corners and be that visionary. He’s also instilled this idea of a servant leadership within FedEx—we have almost an inverted organizational pyramid. The job of the leader is to remove barriers for people to do their job. 

Speaking of visionaries, I know you predicted a recession in 2022. How are you feeling now about the economy?

What I should have probably said at that time was that we were looking at a trade, or freight recession. You see it across all the players in our industry—there has been a decline in revenue for now, I think, six or seven quarters.  But I have to say if you’re Rip Van Winkle and went to sleep before the pandemic, and you woke up just now, you would see a 5% or 6% CAGR [compound annual growth rate] and say, what’s the problem? The problem was rapid growth for the first two years, and then a decline in the next two. So I think we are now at a point of reset. 

Still, demand for FedEx’s services has slowed significantly since the start of the pandemic—are you concerned?

We are now four years past the pandemic. The first two years we saw significant growth and then in the last two years we’ve seen a slight slowdown. If you look back over the four year period, you’d say that we saw normal levels of growth over those four years. 

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How have you adjusted to the drop in demand?

What we have done through this process is really, really looked at our mission. Our mission now has evolved to make supply chains smarter for everyone. We are sitting on top of insights about the global supply chain every single day. So we have built the data infrastructure to capture those insights.  

What is an example of one such insight, and how would it make the supply chain smarter?

When a consumer orders something online, that information instantly passes on to FedEx. It now arrives in FedEx’s system maybe 12 hours before it used to. Those 12 hours are a lifetime for FedEx, and so we are able to plan our assets better for that traffic.

Because of the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are continuously improving our predictability of when that package is going to arrive, keeping in mind the latest and greatest in terms of weather conditions, traffic patterns and so on. 

When did you implement that and what was the motivation behind it?

We began working to create such a capability back in 2020.

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Was that motivated by the pandemic?

This was actually independent of the pandemic.  It was the direction we were heading anyway, because we realized that the value of the data that we are sitting on is quite significant. 

With the changing economic outlook, in recent FedEx earnings calls you’ve placed a lot of increasing cost savings and shareholder value. That can be at odds with making a better company because it often means limiting spending. How do you balance the two ideas of creating shareholder value and value for your customers?

From the very get go of FedEx, our founding philosophy has been very straightforward. We take care of our people, who provide outstanding service and experience for our customers, which in turn generates profits for our companies which we reinvest back in our people. 

What is unique about the last few quarters is the fact that the market itself has been down since the pandemic for about five or six quarters in a row. What we have done really well in this timeframe is continue to gain market share in a down environment. 

Would a regular person sending a package notice the changes you’ve implemented at FedEx?

As an end consumer, you’re going to see much more predictability in terms of when the packages arrive at the doorstep. From a shipper perspective, the pickup experience is going to get significantly better as well. 

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What is the argument for FedEx to continue to be the place that businesses use to send packages, rather than a growing network like Amazon?

Network building is quite hard. We’ve done this [for] over 50 years. We have built this unparalleled network infrastructure around the world that nobody else has got. If you talk about the telephone network, it’s very simple to understand it—you pick up the phone, you call anybody in the world—the physical network is kind of the same thing. You pick up a package anywhere in the world, and get it to anywhere else in the world in a couple of days. FedEx can do that very, very well. And that is something very, very hard to replicate.

You’ve worked for FedEx for your whole career. How can you continue to hear outside perspectives as someone who is very much an insider?

By the very nature of our business, we are essentially in touch with everybody almost every single day. We are a referendum on the global supply chain every single day. For me, talking to our customers is a constant. Because we’re now able to leverage the data and the insights that we have from our customers, they are asking us for the trends that could be helpful for them. So there’s a constant dialogue at different levels, especially for me with all our customers. I make sure that I have a very clear idea of what’s going on in an outside-in perspective. 

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Republicans flip Pennsylvania Senate seat

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M&S shoppers rush to buy ‘gorgeous’ Christmas light up centre-piece scanning for £7.50 instead of £10

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M&S shoppers rush to buy ‘gorgeous’ Christmas light up centre-piece scanning for £7.50 instead of £10

SHOPPERS are racing to Ocado to get their hands on a Christmas centre-piece scanning for £7.50 rather than £10.

The M&S Marks & Sparkle London Light Up Scented Candle has been hailed as the perfect winter goodie, especially with 15 per cent knocked off the price.

M&S has placed some popular festive treats on the shelves this year

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M&S has placed some popular festive treats on the shelves this yearCredit: Getty
The M&S Marks & Sparkle London Light Up Scented Candle can be bought on Ocado for £7.50

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The M&S Marks & Sparkle London Light Up Scented Candle can be bought on Ocado for £7.50
When the wick is lit the LEDs light up the charming London-themed artwork

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When the wick is lit the LEDs light up the charming London-themed artwork

With an iconic London scene printed on the glass jar and LEDs that light up when the wick is lit, it becomes the perfect centre-piece for any display.

The neroli, lime and bergamont infused candle has become a Christmas favourite with customers jumping to the M&S comment section to compliment it.

One user said: “This is not only a beautiful candle when lit but also when it’s not lit, it sparkles and has a beautiful fresh smell.”

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Another added: “I bought it as a beautiful London themed momento, having received it it looks beautiful with a most attractive design in a perfect subtle colour and it smells gorgeous – can’t wait to display and light it up over the festive period.”

A third user responded: “Beautiful candle, really pretty when it’s lit up. Quite a delicate scent. Bought as a present and my friend loved it!”

You can get a hold of this candle directly from the M&S website or in store for £10.

But if you want to get £2.50 discount you can head over to Ocado where it’s 75 per cent of the original price.

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Through the Ocado website you add the festive candle to your basked for £7.50.

If you don’t have an Ocado account you can sign up through the website and book a delivery slot that suits you.

First time customers can often receive a discount so make sure to check for voucher codes.

Shoppers race to buy M&S’ sparkly ‘heels of the season’ – they’re perfect for M&S but are selling out FAST

When using grocery delivery services like Ocado, there may be discounts and price drops at the checkout but keep in mind that there is often a charge for delivery.

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The price will vary depending on the delivery option, which are one-hour delivery slots, next-day delivery, and same-day delivery.

M&S also has a delivery fee so remember to factor that in when checking out your Christmas treats.

The M&S Christmas room spray has also been getting a lot of love from shoppers.

For a sweet £6 this mandarin, clove and cinnamon room spray could elevate your festive experience.

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Customers are saying it simply ‘screams Christmas.’

Another item that’s been flying off the shelves is The Magical Snowing Forest in M&S food halls, which has taken off on social media.

The chocolate box can come home with you for £15 and even has a charming snow-globe effect.

If this isn’t enough chocolate the Santa Chocolate Sleigh has been selling out fast as it’s only £5 a pop.

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The tin sleigh holds individually wrapped milk chocolates inside a parcel bag that is a replica of Santa’s sleigh.

How to save money on Christmas shopping

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save money on your Christmas shopping.

Limit the amount of presents – buying presents for all your family and friends can cost a bomb.

Instead, why not organise a Secret Santa between your inner circles so you’re not having to buy multiple presents.

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Plan ahead – if you’ve got the stamina and budget, it’s worth buying your Christmas presents for the following year in the January sales.

Make sure you shop around for the best deals by using price comparison sites so you’re not forking out more than you should though.

Buy in Boxing Day sales – some retailers start their main Christmas sales early so you can actually snap up a bargain before December 25.

Delivery may cost you a bit more, but it can be worth it if the savings are decent.

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Shop via outlet stores – you can save loads of money shopping via outlet stores like Amazon Warehouse or Office Offcuts.

They work by selling returned or slightly damaged products at a discounted rate, but usually any wear and tear is minor.

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Control of House hangs in balance as vote count continues in US

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Donald Trump’s ability to push through his legislative agenda hangs in the balance as votes continue to be counted in more than two dozen congressional races that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives.

While Trump secured a stunning victory in this week’s presidential election, and Republicans will have a majority in the US Senate, a long list of House races have yet to be called, leaving it unclear whether Republicans will hold on to the lower chamber.

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If Democrats are able to reclaim control of the House, they could act as a bulwark against the Trump White House and a Republican-held Senate.

But given the scale of Republican wins on Tuesday night many non-partisan analysts expect the lower chamber will probably remain under GOP control. Trump improved his margins in 48 out of 50 states and is on course to be the first Republican presidential candidate to win the national popular vote in two decades.

Experts at the Cook Political Report wrote in a memo on Wednesday that the “most likely outcome is a GOP trifecta, including a continued narrow Republican House majority”.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson — a close Trump ally who is expected to keep the top job in the House should Republicans hold on to the chamber — has said the GOP is “poised to have unified government in the White House, Senate and House”.

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In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Johnson said Republicans would be “ready to play ball on day one”.

“President Trump wants to be aggressive. He wants to go big, and we’re excited about that,” he said. “We’re going to get to play offence, because I’m absolutely convinced we’re going to have the White House, the Senate and the House. I think we will deliver that majority.”

Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader who would probably be Speaker if Democrats were able to reclaim control of the chamber, has struck a more cautious note.

“It has yet to be decided who will control the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress,” Jeffries said on Thursday. “We must count every vote and wait until the results in Oregon, Arizona and California are clear.”

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Many close congressional races have been slow to be decided because states will continue to count mail-in ballots so long as they are postmarked by election day. California has historically been slow to count votes — and nearly a dozen races in the state have yet to be called.

The delays are not without precedent. Two years ago, after the 2022 midterms, it took more than a week for the Associated Press to call that Republicans had retaken control of the House.

While Republicans are certain to retake control of the Senate after flipping three seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, the margin of their majority also remains in the balance, with results still being tabulated in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada.

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Putin says Trump’s Ukraine proposals merit attention

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Putin says Trump’s Ukraine proposals merit attention

Russian president congratulates Republican leader on his election victory

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Chinese exports soar as Beijing prepares for Trump’s tariff threats

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This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to receive the newsletter every weekday. Explore all of our newsletters here

In today’s newsletter:


Good morning. China’s exports soared in October and its trade surplus ballooned, official data showed yesterday, just days after Donald Trump won the US presidential election with promises of sweeping tariffs to suppress imports from China.

The bumper export figures are expected to inflame tensions between Trump’s incoming administration and Beijing. The president-elect, a self-described “Tariff Man”, is expected to move quickly and “ruthlessly” in threatening the US’s trading partners with steep levies on their imports once he takes office, say former trade officials and advisers.

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Trump has threatened levies of up to 20 per cent on all imports and 60 per cent on those from China — measures that are more stringent and broader than those deployed during his first term in office.

China’s October export surge was probably partly because “the prospect of a Trump victory” and anticipated tariffs spurred exporters to front-load shipments, said Shuang Ding, head of greater China economic research at Standard Chartered.

Analysts said China’s burgeoning trade surplus — which hit $95.7bn in October compared with forecasts of $75bn — would provoke Trump.

“Of course China will be on top of the list,” said Wang Dong, executive director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University. “The stability, the relative improvement that we have been witnessing . . . will probably come to an end.” Here’s how Beijing could respond to aggressive new tariffs under a second Trump administration.

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Trump’s victory continues to reverberate around the US and the world — here’s more coverage:

  • Japan: The country’s top currency diplomat said the government was ready to take action against “excess moves” in the yen as Asian currencies showed further weakness against a resurgent US dollar in the wake of Trump’s victory.

  • ‘Brave new world’: Trump’s re-election threatens to accelerate the end of the US-led postwar order — if not render it irrelevant.

  • Blame game: Joe Biden called on Americans to “bring down the temperature” in US politics, as Democrats began pointing fingers over Harris’s heavy defeat against Trump. Some critics say the party misread voters.

  • From felon to president-elect: Trump, a twice-impeached convicted criminal, defied assassins and the political odds to win back the White House.

Sign up for our White House Watch newsletter for more analysis on the far-reaching repercussions of Trump’s second term. And here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

  • Economic data: Japan reports household spending for September and Taiwan releases October trade figures. China reports October inflation data on Saturday.

  • Results: Tata Motors and Sony report earnings.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. Nissan has launched an emergency turnaround plan that includes 9,000 job losses and a voluntary 50 per cent pay cut for chief executive Makoto Uchida after unveiling it had fallen to a quarterly loss. Japan’s third-largest carmaker said it would slash global production capacity by 20 per cent. Read more about the troubles at Nissan.

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2. The US Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point yesterday, marking a decline in the pace from September’s half-point cut. Its chair Jay Powell hailed the strength of the US economy and said he would not resign if Donald Trump asked him to.

3. Bangladesh has staved off more power cuts by India’s Adani Group after supplying the conglomerate with a new credit letter and reassurances that it will clear its mounting electricity bill. Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group began reducing electricity supplies to Bangladesh last week over a backlog of overdue payments estimated by the group to be about $850mn.

4. German opposition leader Friedrich Merz has called for snap elections as early as January following the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government. Merz rejected the timetable set out by the German chancellor after he broke up the governing coalition, plunging Europe’s largest economy into political turmoil.

5. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it would be “unacceptable” and “suicidal” for Europe to ask Ukraine to make concessions to Russia in exchange for a potential peace deal. The Ukrainian president’s comments came at a European security summit hosted by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has broken with EU and Nato policy to push for immediate peace.

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The Big Read

Montage showing Donald Trump with an American flag backdrop, framed by a red map of the US
© FT montage/Getty

In the end, it wasn’t even close. A presidential election long forecast to dance on a knife’s edge very quickly turned into a rout for Donald Trump. Today’s Big Read has the five maps and charts that show how the Republican candidate defied conventional assumptions about his support and redrew America’s political map.

We’re also reading . . . 

  • The lure of the strongman: Trump has fundamentally shifted the norms and ideology of American politics, writes Gideon Rachman.

  • Australian business scandals: A spate of controversies has put the country’s boards on notice, Nic Fildes explains.

  • World trade: Just how dependent is the world trading system on the US? We’re about to stress-test the question with Trump headed back to the White House, writes Alan Beattie.

Chart of the day

With their crushing defeat in this week’s US election, the Democrats joined Britain’s Tories and Japan’s Liberal Democrats in 2024’s graveyard of incumbents in an unprecedented year of elections, writes our chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch.

Take a break from the news

Our Lego-loving food writer Tim Hayward dined at the Mini Chef café at the toymakers’ Danish headquarters. A meal prepared by tiny plastic people sparked a revelation about hospitality.

© Simon Bailly

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More growth, inflation and uncertainty: the BoE’s Budget verdict

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The Bank of England has delivered its verdict on Rachel Reeves’ Budget: it will bring higher growth and higher prices in the short term, and new uncertainty over the outlook for the economy further ahead.

The UK chancellor’s £70bn boost to spending has reinforced the monetary policy committee’s caution about the scope for further interest rate cuts, following the reduction from 5 per cent to 4.75 per cent on Thursday.

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Budget measures will add 0.75 percentage points to GDP and around 0.5 percentage points to consumer price inflation in a year’s time, the MPC said. But the impact of the biggest tax change — the £26bn increase in employers’ national insurance contributions — is much harder to assess.

Policymakers, already wary of cutting rates too fast in the face of persistent wage pressures, want to see how businesses respond to a change that will make it much more expensive to hire low-wage workers.

“A gradual approach to removing monetary policy restraint will help us to observe how this plays out, along with other risks to the inflation outlook,” governor Andrew Bailey told reporters on Thursday.

The MPC’s new forecasts show consumer price inflation will be running at 2.7 per cent in the final quarter of 2025 — well above its previous forecast of 2.2 per cent. It will fall below the 2 per cent target only in mid-2027, a full year later than the committee expected in August. The higher inflation is largely because of the combined effects of the Budget measures.

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The main driver is the big, front-loaded increase in government consumption and investment, which will pump up demand in the near-term, while any improvements in the supply capacity of the economy will take much longer to materialise.

The MPC now expects spare capacity in the economy to open up later, and to a smaller extent, than it expected in August — on the face of it pointing to a slower pace of rate reductions in the coming quarters.

The inflation forecasts also reflect the direct effects on prices of the rise in the cap on bus fares, the introduction of VAT on private school fees and the increase in vehicle excise duty, which will all take effect next year.

Plans to increase fuel duty in line with inflation from 2026 are also factored into the BoE’s new forecast, although previous chancellors have repeatedly failed to follow through on fuel duty uprating.

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Far more uncertain, however, is the effect of the chancellor’s big tax hike on businesses through employers’ national insurance contributions.

Employers could respond in several ways, Bailey said: by raising prices, accepting lower profits, improving productivity, holding down wages or cutting employment. The overall effect was unpredictable as it would rely on the strength of consumer demand and workers’ bargaining power.

“There is obviously a lot we will learn about the effects of the Budget as they pass through. It’s important we all have the time to do that,” he said.

Clare Lombardelli, the BoE’s deputy governor for monetary policy, noted that the effects would differ between sectors: “It is very uncertain . . . we will want to observe it and talk to businesses about precisely how they plan to respond.”

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The BoE’s task will be all the harder because poor data means it is still very hard to assess how strong the jobs market is, and whether workers are in a position to resist attempts to squeeze their pay.

Economists said it was striking, given the material impact of the Budget measures, that the BoE had not signalled any change in its policy stance, with Bailey saying it would not be right “to conclude that the path for interest rates will be very different due to the Budget”.

Its forecasts are premised on market expectations for interest rates in the run-up to the Budget, which implied the benchmark rate would fall to 3.5 per cent in three years.

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Since that forecast was finalised, market expectations for bank rate at the end of 2025 have risen by nearly 0.5 percentage points.

But Sandra Horsfield, economist at Investec, said the implications of the two major developments since the BoE’s August forecasts — the UK Budget and US election — remained far from clear.

She said: “The MPC has chosen a middle path as its baseline, but stressed uncertainties on both sides — and its willingness to react should that judgment be wrong.”

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