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11.08 - UPDATE - Pound still up against currencies except Canadian dollar
Surprisingly sterling is up against the euro and dollar among other major currencies but has fallen by 0.09 percent against the Canadian dollar to 1.8293.
10.41 - UPDATE - Bad news for the high street comes with good news for employment
Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief of money.co.uk said: "Another disastrous day for the great British high street. With both New Look and Carpetright looking to close stores prospects for these retailers are looking bleak. It’s no secret many well known high street retailers are currently struggling - Mothercare is on the hunt for funding, Kingfisher says profits have fallen by 10% and Moss Bros have also issued a profit warning. All eyes are on those who have been struggling in the current economic climate as the nation favours online giants instead such as Amazon.
“This does come in stark contrast to today’s figures that suggests unemployment is at it’s lowest since 1975. This could serve as a glimmer of hope for those who find themselves out of work."
10.33 - UPDATE - Reactions to both employment and unemployment rising
Tara Sinclair, economist and senior fellow at the global job site said:”With yesterday’s confirmation that consumer price rises are slowly easing, both the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England are now predicting that real wages will find themselves back in positive territory over the coming months as inflation falls further.
“The prospect of Britons finally having more purchasing power is an encouraging one for an economy as reliant on consumer spending as Britain’s.
“With the economy inching closer to full employment, we’re seeing some interesting anomalies - the number of employed and unemployed people both rose. The reason for this seeming contradiction is the return to the labour market of people who had previously been economically inactive.”
MORNING HEADLINES
The pound is up against the dollar by 0.44 percent to 1.4066 and up against the euro by 0.44 percent to 1.14066.
The pound is enjoying the latest ONS figures which show there were 32.25million people in work, 168,000 more than for August to October 2017 and 402,000 more than for a year earlier.
The employment rate was 75.3 percent, higher than for a year earlier which was 74.6 percent and the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971.
Still, there were 1.45million unemployed people, 24,000 more than for August to October 2017 but 127,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
Esther McVey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said: “Getting a job means securing an income for a family and the chance to build a better future. That’s why up and down the country we are doing all we can to help people into work.
“And from next month, we’ll be taking thousands more people out of paying tax and also increasing the National Living Wage, benefiting those on the lowest pay and making sure they keep more of what they earn.
“In fact by raising the National Living Wage we have ensured that the lowest earners have seen their wages grow by almost 7% above inflation since 2015.”
Recently, sterling has enjoyed ten continuous days of gains on the euro.