May Gold News 2020

After suffering one of the worst periods of unemployment on record, thousands more workers are expected to lose their jobs in the coming weeks and months, as the global economy enters a deep recession.

After months of lockdown across the world, several companies have come out this week to announce severe job cuts as they adjust to the new landscape for businesses in the months to come.

In further evidence of the global surge in demand for investment gold, Australia’s Perth Mint has reported huge increases in sales numbers for April.

The Perth Mint saw its bullion product sales increase by over 500% in April 2020 versus April 2019.

After suffering from reduced industrial demand, silver prices have risen 9% this week as factories start to resume production.

Silver has enjoyed a small surge in the past 24 hours, gaining 5%, and reaching £13.57 per ounce this afternoon.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has stated that the UK economy will face a “significant recession” this year, and that it is “very likely” to have already begun.

Figures show that GDP was down by 2% overall for Q1 2020, putting the UK economy on the first stage of a recession.

After slashing interest rates to a record low of 0.1% in March, the continued economic damage of the coronavirus has now made the previously unthinkable a possibility for the UK, after a senior Bank of England official speculated on the possibility of negative interest rates.

After global stock markets have shown some sign of recovery in recent weeks, there has been talk of a potential bounce back for stocks following the most recent crash.

Stock investors have been clinging to every bit of hope, and every positive headline that suggests the economic damage of Covid-19 can be undone.

The Bank of England has today issued a stark warning that the UK economy is facing the sharpest recession since records began, in further evidence of the financial damage caused by Covid-19.

An ‘illustrative scenario’ by the BoE foresaw possibly the biggest UK economic slump in over 300 years.

The gold : silver ratio has surged to record highs in recent weeks, as a slump in industrial demand holds back the alternative investment metal.

The ratio, seen as a key indicator by many investors, hit an all-time high of 126 in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe, and shutdowns across Europe and America began.

A survey by the Confederation of British Industry makes sombre reading for the UK's economy, predicting severe reductions in output, and a sharp rise in unemployment.

The Eurozone economy reported its worst ever quarterly contraction this week, in the first sign of recession for the major economic powerhouse.

The US saw its GDP fall by an even higher 4.8% during the first quarter, its worst performance since 2008. This puts both the EU and US past the first part of the way to a full recession (two quarters of contraction in a row).