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Our economic recovery depends on tourism – we need an air corridor between the UK and US

The most important factor will be how quickly US service industries recover and the key is aviation, writes Hamish McRae

Sunday 28 March 2021 21:30 BST
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<p>President Joe Biden salutes as he boards Air Force One. The sooner Americans and Britons can take to the air again, the better</p>

President Joe Biden salutes as he boards Air Force One. The sooner Americans and Britons can take to the air again, the better

The US economy is racing out of the traps. This week, we will get more evidence that it is settling into a full gallop. The markets know this. On Friday, the S&P 500 index had a late spurt and closed at a record high. US manufacturing is surging ahead, having recovered all the ground lost over the pandemic. And as the vaccine rollout progresses, the reopening of the service industries will gather pace, too. 

So, what’s to look for, and what does this mean for the rest of us?

On Friday, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics will release job figures for March. These are expected to confirm the real-time data on employment which suggests that the boom is sucking people back into work. We will also get more details of the massive infrastructure plans expected to be outlined by President Biden in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Those plans are of course long term, but markets being markets, we can expect a reaction as to potential winners from the spending. More generally, there is a sense that the US is leading the developed world out of recession, just as China is leading the emerging world out of it.  

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