Thursday newspaper round-up: Automation, business growth, Lloyds

The rise of the machine economy risks social disruption by widening the gap between rich and poor in Britain, as automation threatens jobs generating £290bn in wages. Jobs accounting for a third of annual pay in the UK risk being automated, according to the study by the IPPR thinktank. Warning that low-paid roles are in the greatest danger, it urged ministers to head off the prospect of rising inequality by helping people retrain and share in the benefits from advances in technology. – Guardian

The British economy has received a double boost from reports showing signs of modest wage growth and accelerating output from businesses. According to a study by the jobs search engine Adzuna, the average salary for vacancies advertised online in November was 1.2% higher than the same month a year before – the first annual increase recorded by the website since June 2015. Meanwhile, a survey by the business group the CBI found firms reporting a rise in economic output. – Guardian

Business growth picked up at its fastest pace since 2015 in the final months of 2017, reinforcing hopes that the economy is recovering. Factories, services firms and retailers all reported improved growth in the three months to December, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said. – Telegraph

Lloyds Banking Group was the UK’s biggest corporate taxpayer for the second year running last year, after paying £2.3bn in taxes for 2016. The high street bank stumped up £500m more to the Treasury than the previous year, according to an analysis of Britain’s top companies’ tax records by consultancy PwC. – Telegraph

Households face higher borrowing costs next year regardless of whether the Bank of England raises interest rates, according to a survey of 50 leading economists by The Times. Two thirds of respondents predict that policymakers will lift the official interest rate at least once in 2018. More than nine in ten also forecast an increase in the benchmark rate for government debt, used to price almost all aspects of personal and consumer borrowing from mortgages to business loans. – The Times

Economics may be a dismal science but the predictions for the year ahead are not as bad as might have been expected. The 50 respondents to the fourth annual economics survey by The Times are confident that a hard Brexit on World Trade Organisation rules will be avoided, the squeeze on living standards will end and growth is more likely to overshoot official forecasts than fall short. The only group for which there is strong agreement that 2018 will not be kind is London homeowners: economists expect house prices to drop by as much as 5 per cent in the capital next year while creeping up nationally. – The Times