Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 7 September 2023

• Consumer behaviour indicators generally showed increased activity in the latest week as Revolut debit card spending rose by 1 percentage point and the daily aggregate CHAPS-based indicator of credit and debit card spending increased by 6 points (Bank of England CHAPS data); while overall national retail footfall remained unchanged (Revolut, Springboard). Section 3: Consumer Behaviour. 

• The total number of online job adverts fell by 4% on 1 September 2023 compared with the previous week and was 7% below the level of the equivalent period last year (Adzuna). Section 4: Business and workforce.  

• Approximately 1 in 10 (11%) businesses were experiencing worker shortages in late August 2023, this is down 2 percentage points from mid-July 2023; 45% of those businesses reported they were unable to meet demands as a consequence of the shortages (final results from Wave 90 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey).  

• Both the System Average Price (SAP) of gas and the System Price of electricity decreased when compared with the previous week, by 4% and 2%, respectively; both values remain lower than the peak in late August 2022, with the SAP of gas and System Price of electricity 81% and 82% lower, respectively (National Gas Transmission, Elexon). Section 5: Energy.  

• The daily average number of UK flights fell slightly by 1% in the week to 3 September 2023 and was 10% lower than the equivalent week of 2019; average traffic camera activity for cars in London increased slightly by 1% and was 107% of the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) level (EUROCONTROL, Transport for London). Section 6: Transport.

Notes:

1. Revolut adjustments to user count are at an aggregate level and as such age bands may not adjust evenly.
2. Users should note that card spending over time is pushed upwards by the impacts of both inflation on value of transactions and cash-to-card conversion.

In the latest week, consumer behaviour activity is likely to have been affected by the summer bank holiday on 28 August 2023. 

UK spending on debit and credit cards: daily CHAPS-based indicator 

In the week to 31 August 2023, the aggregate CHAPS-based indicator of credit and debit card purchases increased by 6 points from the previous week and increased by 4 points compared with the same week in 2022. 

UK spending on debit and credit cards: monthly CHAPS-based indicator 

The monthly CHAPS-based aggregate index can provide an indication of the direction of retail sales data, having followed similar trends since the CHAPS index was established in January 2020. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes retail sales data around the middle of each month, approximately two weeks after the monthly CHAPS index is published in this bulletin.

This week we are presenting seasonally adjusted series for all spending categories of the monthly CHAPS-based indicator for the first time.

In August 2023, the seasonally adjusted (SA) monthly CHAPS-based aggregate indicator of credit and debit card spending fell by 1% when compared with the previous month, but was 3% higher than August 2022. 

After seasonal adjustment, the spending categories showed the following changes when compared with the previous month: 

• "delayable" increased by 1% 

• "staple" was unchanged 

• "work-related" was unchanged 

• "social" decreased by 5% 

After seasonal adjustment, all spending categories were above the level seen in August 2022, except for "work-related" which was 7% lower. "Delayable" saw the largest increase of 5% when compared with the previous year.  

The monthly and daily CHAPS indices are available in our accompanying UK spending on credit and debit cards dataset, which includes methodological notes that users should take into consideration. The monthly CHAPS index is calculated by the ONS, rather than being an additional series that is produced and validated by the Bank of England. 

Revolut spending on debit cards 

In the week to 3 September 2023, Revolut debit card spending increased by 1 percentage point when compared with the previous week. "Retail" spending showed the largest growth, increasing by 12 percentage points and "Travel and accommodation" increased by 1 percentage point. The increases in these sectors were partially offset by four of six sector categories decreasing in the latest period. "Pubs, restaurants and fast food" spending had the largest decrease of 8 percentage points in the week followed by "Entertainment" spending that decreased by 7 percentage points.  

Total Revolut debit card spending was 21 percentage points above the equivalent period in 2022, with all six categories seeing increases in spending. The largest increase was "retail" which increased by 32 percentage points, followed by "food and drink" which increased by 28 percentage points when compared with the equivalent period in 2022. 

Our accompanying Revolut spending on debit cards dataset is available.  

National retail footfall 

National retail footfall figures are supplied by Springboard, a provider of data on customer activity. The breakdowns in this indicator are as follows: 

• overall footfall, which is the sum of the average footfall in each destination type weighted by their respective footfall volumes 

• shopping centre, which is a space that does not form part of the public highway, and is owned and managed by a single landlord 

• high street, which is the central part of the main business and commercial area of a town 

• retail parks and shopping parks, which comprise retail warehouse units, wholly owned and managed by a single landlord 

Springboard's weekly data are defined over a seven-day period running from Monday to Sunday. Week 35 of 2023 refers to the period of Monday 28 August to Sunday 3 September 2023. All quoted figures have been rounded to the nearest integer.

Overall retail footfall levels in the week to 3 September 2023 were unchanged compared with the previous week. This level was 101% of the level seen in the equivalent week of 2022, but only 91% of the level seen in the equivalent period of 2019. 

Of the three location categories, retail parks and shopping centres saw an increase in footfall compared with the previous week, at 104% and 101%, respectively. High street footfall fell to 97% of the level of the previous week. All location categories were at or above the level observed in the equivalent week of 2022.

Online job adverts 

These figures are experimental 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 decreased by 4% on 1 September 2023 compared with the previous week and is now at its lowest point since mid-January 2023. In the latest week, there were decreases in 24 of the 28 online job categories, with the largest decreases in "Scientific or Quality Assurance (QA)" and "Graduate" categories, which fell by 9% and 8%, respectively. The remaining four all increased by 1% in the latest week. 

The total number of online job adverts was 7% lower than the equivalent period of 2022, with 22 of the 28 online job categories below their level of a year ago. The "Human Resources (HR) and Recruitment" category saw the biggest decrease at 41% lower, closely followed by "Domestic Help" at 37% lower. 

All 12 of the UK countries and English regions decreased when compared with the previous week. This is the first time since mid-March 2023 that all regions have decreased week-on-week. Northern Ireland saw the largest decrease at 8%, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber and the South East, both of which fell by 5%. Users should note that the Northern Ireland estimates have higher volatility than other UK countries and English regions. 

Compared with the equivalent period of 2022, all 12 of the UK countries and English regions were below their level of a year ago. The largest fall continues to be in the East Midlands where job adverts fell by 19%. 

For further details, see our accompanying Online job advert estimates dataset.

System Price of electricity 

In the week to 3 September 2023, the System Price of electricity decreased by 2% compared with the previous week and was 82% below the peak level seen in late August 2022. For further details, see our accompanying System Price of electricity dataset. 

System Average Price (SAP) of gas  

The SAP of gas decreased by 4% in the week to 3 September 2023. This latest price is 78% below the level seen in the equivalent week of 2022 and 81% below the peak seen in late August 2022. For further details, see our accompanying System Average Price of gas dataset.

Daily UK flights 

In the week to 3 September 2023, the daily average number of UK flights was 5,975, which was 1% lower than the previous week. In addition, the average number of UK flights was 5% higher than the equivalent period of 2022, but 10% lower than the equivalent week of 2019.  

The number of UK flights on 28 August 2023, the day of widespread disruption at airports, fell by 29% compared with the previous Monday (21 August 2023) and was 23% below the equivalent day of 2022 (29 August 2022). For further details, see our accompanying Daily UK flights dataset. 

Traffic camera activity  

Average traffic camera activity for cars in London in the week to 3 September 2023 increased slightly by 1% compared with the previous week and was 107% of the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) level. Pedestrian and cyclist levels in London were 4% higher than the level in the previous week and 112% of the pre-coronavirus level. For further details, see our accompanying Traffic camera activity dataset.

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 Statistics, which represent useful economic and social concepts.

Information on the methodology used to produce the indicators in this bulletin is available in our Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators methodology.

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 Experimental Statistics. 

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.