Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100, up 30 points at 7,469
- House prices fall at fastest pace since 2009
- US futures higher ahead of non-farm payrolls
August non-farm payrolls strong, but July revised down
The non-farm payrolls figures are out and it is a mixed bag.
The US economy added 187,000 jobs in August, ahead of forecasts of 170,000, although July's number was revised down to 157,000 from an original reading of 187,000.
The rate of unemployment rose unexpectedly in August to 3.8%, surprising economists who had predicted it would remain unchanged at 3.5% but growth in average hourly earnings surprised on the downside.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% in August compared to July, below the 0.3% expected, although annual growth of 4.3% was in line with expectations.
The figures from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics showed employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction. Employment in transportation and warehousing declined.
In August, the labor force participation rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 62.8 percent, after being flat since March.
ONS revisions mean UK no longer the G7 laggard
Some reaction to the ONS revisions which seem to have altered the narrative of how the UK was perceived to have performed during the pandemic.
Simon French at Panmure Gordon commented: said "the entire UK economic narrative - post pandemic - has just been revised away."
I am a big fan of @ONS & recent improvements but as @ChrisGiles_ has flagged this AM the entire UK economic narrative - post pandemic - has just been revised away. Every "UK not back at pre-CV-19 level" headline now obsolete. "UK bottom of the G7" no longer true. Extraordinary pic.twitter.com/hThbgvnJSo— Simon French (@shjfrench) September 1, 2023
He said every "UK not back at pre-CV-19 level" headline was now obsolete and "UK bottom of the G7" was no longer true.
"Extraordinary," he said.
Chris Giles at the Financial Times has helpfully shown how the revisions impact the UK's place in the economic leaderboard.
Quite the UK GDP revision today - hugely higher level - almost 2% up- ONS found stockbuilding down the back of the sofa in 2020
- and foud wholesale and health services much stronger than expected in 2021
Means the UK is not a global outlier any more.... pic.twitter.com/Sc621UWPrn
— Chris Giles (@ChrisGiles_) September 1, 2023