Unemployment

Surprise rise in jobless rate will give Reserve Bank more reason to delay another interest rate hike at June meetingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s unemployment rate has jumped to 4.5% in April to reach the highest in about four-and-half-years, amid fears rising interest rates and the global oil crisis will smash economic growth.The number of employed people unexpectedly fell by 18,600 in the month – the first decline this year – dragging the jobless rate up from 4.3%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Continue reading...

Pay growth eases to 3.4% as businesses face pressure from soaring energy costsUnemployment in the UK has unexpectedly risen to 5% while wage growth has slowed, according to official figures, in the first snapshot of how companies are reacting to the impact of the Iran war.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment was up in the three months to March, from 4.9% in February, a rate that City economists had expected to hold. Continue reading...

Bank expects its base case for GDP growth to be 0.5% this year, lower than IMF’s 0.8% prediction for BritainBusiness live – latest updatesLloyds has warned that the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict could cost it £151m amid rising unemployment and inflation and a slowdown in the housing market.The FTSE 100 group, whose brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, issued a downbeat economic forecast that it said reflects the stagflationary consequences – the double hit of rising inflation at the same time as slower economic growth – for the UK and global economies. Continue reading...

ONS data for three months to February is not expected to alter Bank of England’s decision on interest ratesUnemployment in the UK unexpectedly fell in the three months to February, according to official figures – but the fallout from the conflict in the Middle East is expected to cause a rise in job cuts.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the rate of unemployment was 4.9% in the three months to February. This compares with 5.2% in the three months to January, a rate that economists had expected to also see in February. Continue reading...