When it comes to the economy – not much is going well right now. London’s FTSE 100 Index fell on Tuesday as data showed some signs of reduced demand for labour. It was healthcare and consumer goods stocks pulling the market down the most. Of course, some healthcare stocks rose rapidly in the pandemic and are now falling back and consumer goods are doing the same as savings wither and sentiment about the cost of living drives a stake through the heart of optimism built up late last year.

Rolls-Royce took a hit as it dropped to the bottom of the blue-chip index on brokerage action because it slumped 6.4% after JP Morgan downgraded the aero engineer’s stock to “underweight” from “neutral”.

The optics don’t look good for the markets do they? The FTSE 100 (FTSE) dropped 0.9%, with Unilever (ULVR.L), Diageo (DGE.L), HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L) down between 1.2% and 2.6%, while the domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index (FTMC) declined 0.9%.

While official figures showed Britain’s jobless rate fell below its level immediately before the coronavirus pandemic, the employment rose by a weaker-than-expected 10,000. But the real thing to keep an eye on is job vacancies. It hit a record high in the three months to March and many, including the Bank of England, are looking for signs that the lack of candidates to fill jobs will push up wages to the extent that it risks a wage-price spiral. In other words – yet more inflation!

Inflation data from the US may well see interest rates being pushed up higher – which is to be expected.

The global impact of the Russia/Ukraine war has still been fully felt yet and the pandemic is still not over as some countries, especially those with zero-Covid policies are now finding out. The mood is sombre in just about every market there is. But not all, of course.