Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 1 February 2024

• In the latest week, UK spending on debit and credit cards decreased by 2% when compared with the previous week; UK retail footfall increased to 104% of the level in the previous week, however, this was 98% of the level seen in the equivalent week of 2023 (Bank of England CHAPS, Springboard). Section 3: Consumer behaviour.

• The total number of online job adverts on 26 January 2024 increased by 4% when compared with 22 January 2024; this is 18% below the level seen in the equivalent period in 2023 (Adzuna). Section 4: Business and workforce.

• In late January 2024, the proportion of businesses experiencing a shortage of workers was 9%, up from 7% reported in late December 2023, a return to the pre-Christmas level (initial results from Wave 101 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey). Section 4: Business and workforce.

• In the week to 28 January 2024, the System Average Price (SAP) of gas and the System Price of electricity decreased by 6% and 29%, respectively, when compared with the previous week (Elexon, National Gas Transmission). Section 5: Energy.

• Average daily UK flights increased by 3% when compared with the previous week, while average traffic camera activity for pedestrians and cyclists in London rose by 5% (Transport for London, EUROCONTROL). Section 6: Transport.

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Notes:

1. Card spending over time is pushed upwards by the impacts of both inflation on value of transactions and cash-to-card conversion.

2. Revolut adjustments to user count are at an aggregate level and as such age bands may not adjust evenly.

3. Indicators with SA in the title have been seasonally adjusted.

4. In last week's publication, the snapshot date for "Total online job adverts" changed from Friday 19 January 2024 to Monday 22 January 2024. Therefore, the week-on-week changes this week are comparing Monday 22 January 2024 with Friday 26 January 2024, and year-on-year changes are comparing Friday 27 January 2023 with Friday 26 January 2024.

UK spending on debit and credit cards: weekly, seasonally adjusted CHAPS-based indicator

Users should note that the “work-related” and “social” CHAPS series have been withdrawn in 2024 because of sample population issues. We will continue publishing the aggregate, staple and delayable series while we are undertaking a review of the component series and will provide an update in due course. Please note that the “work-related” and “social” categories still contribute to the “aggregate” series.

The spending categories, when seasonally adjusted, recorded the following changes in the latest week:

• "aggregate" decreased by 2%

• "delayable" decreased by 1%

• "staple" decreased by 1%

When compared with the equivalent week of 2023, the spending categories, when seasonally adjusted, recorded the following changes:

• "aggregate" decreased by 4%

• "delayable" decreased by 8%

• "staple" decreased by 1%

These data series are real-time indicators for estimating UK spending on credit and debit cards. They track the daily CHAPS payments made by credit and debit card payment processors to around 100 major UK retail corporates. These payments are the proceeds of recent credit and debit card transactions made by customers at their stores, both via physical and online platforms. More information on the indicator is provided in the accompanying Guide to the Bank of England's UK spending on credit and debit cards experimental data series.

Companies are allocated to one of four categories based on their primary business:

• "delayable" refers to companies selling goods whose purchase could be delayed, such as clothing or furnishings

• "staple" refers to companies that sell essential goods that households need to purchase, such as food and utilities

• "social" refers to spending on travel and eating out

• "work-related" refers to companies providing public transport or selling petrol

The weekly and monthly seasonally adjusted CHAPS indices, and the daily and monthly non-seasonally adjusted CHAPS indices, are available in our accompanying UK spending on credit and debit cards dataset.

Revolut spending on debit cards

In the week to 21 January 2024, total Revolut card spending increased by 8% when compared with the previous week. All six sector categories increased on the previous week, with the largest increase seen in the "pubs, restaurants and fast food" sector, which rose by 13%.

When compared against the equivalent week in 2023, total Revolut debit card spending fell by 5%. Spending decreased in four of the six sectors, with the largest year-on-year decrease in spending seen in the "travel and accommodation" sector, which fell by 19%. Meanwhile, the only year-on-year increase was seen in the "food and drink" sector, which rose by 2%, while spending in the "retail" sector remained broadly unchanged.

Our accompanying Revolut spending on debit cards dataset is available.

National retail footfall

Overall UK retail footfall in the week to 28 January 2024 increased to 104% of the level in the previous week, however UK retail footfall fell to 98% of the level of the equivalent week in 2023.

High street and shopping centre footfall increased to 108% and 102% of the level in the previous week, respectively, while retail park footfall remained broadly unchanged. When compared with the equivalent week of 2023, high street and shopping centre footfall fell to 98% and 97%, respectively, and retail park footfall rose to 101% of the level in the previous year.

All 12 UK countries and regions increased above the level in the previous week, with the largest increase seen in Northern Ireland at 110%. When compared with the equivalent week in 2023, 11 of the 12 UK countries and regions decreased, with the only increase seen in London at 101%.

Online job adverts

These figures are innovative estimates of online job adverts by category, UK country, and English region, provided by Adzuna, an online job search engine. The number of job adverts over time is an indicator of the demand for labour. The Adzuna categories used do not correspond to Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) categories, so these values are not directly comparable with our Vacancy Survey.

The total number of online job adverts on 26 January 2024 increased by 4% when compared with 22 January 2024. This is 18% below the level seen in the equivalent period in 2023.

Between 22 and 26 of January 2024, the total number of online job adverts increased in 11 of the 12 UK countries and English regions. However, when compared with the equivalent period in 2023, all 12 UK countries and English regions decreased, with the largest decrease of 26% seen in Scotland.

Please note that in last week's publication, the "snapshot" date has changed from Friday 19 January 2024 to Monday 22 January 2024. The week-on-week changes are comparing Monday 22 January 2024 with Friday 26 January 2024, and year-on-year changes are comparing Friday 27 January 2023 with Friday 26 January 2024. Please consider that this change might affect the volume observed in the data as there may be within-week variation in volumes.

Our accompanying Online job advert estimates dataset is available.

Business impact and insights

The Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) collects data from selected industries and does not have full coverage of the UK economy. For more information on the industries covered in the BICS sample, see our  Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) QMI.

Advanced notification of potential redundancies

Calculated as a four-week rolling average, the number of potential redundancies in the week to 21 January 2024 was 17% above the level in the equivalent week of 2023, while the number of employers proposing redundancies was 2% lower than the level in the equivalent week of 2023.

Comparisons with the equivalent period a year ago help account for any seasonal impacts. For more information, our accompanying Advanced notification of potential redundancies dataset is available.

System Average Price (SAP) of gas 

In the week to 28 January 2024, the System Average Price (SAP) of gas decreased by 6% when compared with the previous week and was 56% lower than the equivalent week of 2023.

Our accompanying System Average Price of gas dataset is available.

System Price of electricity

In the week to 28 January 2024, the System Price of electricity decreased by 29% when compared with the previous week and was 61% lower than the equivalent week of 2023.

Our accompanying System Price of electricity dataset is available.

Traffic camera activity

Average traffic camera activity for cars in London increased by 1% in the week to 28 January 2024. Meanwhile, average pedestrian and cyclist levels in London increased by 5% in the same period.

Our accompanying Traffic camera activity dataset is available.

Daily UK flights

In the week to 28 January 2024, the daily average number of UK flights increased by 3% when compared with the previous week and was 5% higher when compared with the equivalent week of 2023.

Our accompanying Daily UK flights dataset is available.

This section lists a selection of the data available in this publication. For the full list of available datasets, please see our accompanying dataset page.

Real-time indicator

A real-time indicator provides insights into economic activity using close-to-real-time big data, administrative data sources, rapid response surveys or experimental estimates, which represent useful economic and social concepts.

Official statistics in development

These statistics are labelled as "official statistics in development". Until September 2023, these were called "experimental statistics". Read more about the change in our Guide to official statistics in development.

We are developing how we collect and produce the data to improve the quality of these statistics. Read more in our Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators methodology article.

Once the developments are complete, we will review the statistics with the Statistics Head of Profession. We will decide whether the statistics are of sufficient quality and value to be published as official statistics, or whether further development is needed. Production may be stopped if they are not of sufficient quality or value. Users will be informed of the outcome and any changes.

We value your feedback on these statistics. Contact us at realtime.indicators@ons.gov.uk.

These statistics have been produced to provide timely indicators of the effect of developing world events on the UK economy and society, using close-to-real-time big data, administrative data sources, rapid response surveys, or Official Statistics in development.

The data presented in this bulletin are reviewed and refreshed on a regular basis. Indicators are swapped in and out of the publication based on their suitability and availability.

UK coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions

Coronavirus restrictions should be considered when interpreting the data featured throughout this bulletin.

Seasonality

Seasonal fluctuations are likely to be present in many of these indicators so caution must be applied when interpreting changes in series that are not seasonally adjusted.