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The BoE is monitoring the labour market closely as it considers whether it needs to resume raising interest rates, having kept them on hold in September after 14 hikes in a row. Under the previous methodology, the unemployment rate had been reported as 4.3% for the three months to July rather than 4.2%. Still, the new data showed more slack in the labour market than the BoE had predicted in August, when it forecast an unemployment rate of 4.1% for the third quarter as a whole. "It is probably only a matter of time before the recent loosening of the labour market feeds through into significantly slower wage growth," Pugh said. The latest ONS estimate showed employment fell by 133,000 in the three months to July, compared with 207,000 in its previous estimate.

Persons: BoE, Thomas Pugh, Pugh, Tony Wilson, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg, Paul Sandle, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Office, National Statistics, Bank of England, Labour Force Survey, RSM, ONS, Financial, Institute for Employment Studies, Thomson

☆ Searching for America’s First Black Woman Novelist
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | More About Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The papers of Wheeler, who served as ambassador to Nicaragua, are held at the Library of Congress. But no one seemed to have looked at his almanacs, where he had the habit of making marginal notes. In one, Wheeler had jotted a list of enslaved people in his household, which helped Hecimovich build his list of possible authors. Her novel also includes a scene set in a portrait gallery, which similarly mocks the aristocratic pretensions of enslavers. Many of Hecimovich’s findings will also be used in a new edition of “The Bondwoman’s Narrative” that he’s working on with Gates.

Persons: Wheeler, Hecimovich, …, Thomas Pugh, Crafts’s, David Cecelski Organizations: Library of Congress Locations: Nicaragua, Louisiana, Jamaica, North Carolina, Gates

"We know that the British economy recovered faster from the pandemic than anyone previously thought and data out today once again proves the doubters wrong," finance minister Jeremy Hunt said. And that's before the full drag from higher interest rates has been felt," said Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics. The upward revisions were concentrated in 2020 and 2021, during the height of the pandemic and immediate aftermath. Growth in 2021 was revised to 8.7% from 7.6%, while the size of 2020's historic slump was reduced to 10.4% from 11.0%, in line with preliminary guidance on Sept. 1. Growth in 2022 was revised up to 4.3% from 4.1%.

Persons: Rachel Adams, Jeremy Hunt, Ruth Gregory, Thomas Pugh, Capital's Gregory, David Milliken, Andy Bruce, William James, Toby Chopra Organizations: Oxford, REUTERS, National Statistics, European Union, Capital Economics, The Bank of England, RSM, Reuters Graphics Reuters, ONS, Thomson Locations: Britain, London, Germany, France, United States, Japan, Italy, Canada, Ukraine

☆ VIEW Bank of England raises rates for a 14th time
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The BoE raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.25% and said high inflation meant it was unlikely to stop raising rates any time soon. However, with Thursday's decision, traders began to price in a lower peak in UK rates. MONEY MARKETS: Interest-rate derivatives showed traders believe UK rates will peak around 5.67% by March, compared with an expected peak of 5.73% in the run-up to the decision. Rising interest rates means higher borrowing costs, which will lead to larger monthly mortgage payments for many homeowners." The Bank of England remains committed to bringing inflation down, unfortunately raising interest rates is one of the only tools the Bank can use to sap demand out of the economy."

Persons: BoE, Sterling, VIVEK PAUL, we’ll, STUART COLE, JEREMY BATSTONE, CARR, RAYMOND JAMES, MARCUS BROOKES, ” SEEMA SHAH, Rishi Sunak, GILES COGHLAN, THOMAS PUGH, JOHN LEIPER, Amanda Cooper, Samuel Indyk Organizations: Bank of England, FTSE, BLACKROCK, LONDON, TOM HOPKINS, Bank of, RSM, Bank, EMEA, Thomson Locations: LONDON, EUROPEAN, U.S

A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to approvals of 49,000, after 51,143 mortgages were approved in May. The value of net mortgage lending for the second quarter as a whole fell compared with the first quarter - the first quarterly contraction since records began in 1987. The BoE is expected to raise interest rates to 5.25% on Thursday from 5.0%, which would be the highest Bank Rate since 2008. "Looking ahead, growth in households' real disposable incomes will be weighed down by mortgage refinancing," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics. The BoE reported a 1.661 billion pound ($2.13 billion) monthly increase in net consumer lending June, the largest such increase since April 2018.

Persons: Banks, Liz Truss, BoE, Thomas Pugh, Samuel Tombs, Andy Bruce, David Milliken, Sarah Young, Christina Fincher Organizations: Bank of, RSM, Thomson

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