Closing post
Time for a recap…
Strong spending on public services and welfare pushed UK government borrowing to £3.1bn last month, more than double its level in the same month a year earlier and worse than experts had expected.
Fuelling the row between Labour and the Conservatives over the health of the public finances, the deficit was the highest for a July in three years and £3bn higher than expected by the government’s spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said strong growth in public spending was the main factor behind the borrowing overshoot.
Jessica Barnaby, the ONS deputy director for public sector finances, said:
“July borrowing was almost £2bn higher this year than in 2023. Revenue was up on last year, with income tax receipts in particular growing strongly.
“However, this was more than offset by a rise in central government spending where, despite a reduction in debt interest, the cost of public services and benefits continued to increase.”
More here
In other news…
Data revisions have cut the total of US workers on payrolls in March 2024 by 818,000
Ford has shaken up its electric car plans, with a new focus on hybid vehicle
McDonald’s to open more than 200 new restaurants in UK and Ireland
Beijing has announced a probe into EU subsidies of some dairy products imported into China
US jobs payrolls revised down by 818,000
Newsflash: The US economy has created more than 800,000 fewer jobs than previously thought.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released its latest revisions to its monthly non-farm payroll statistics, the official measure of US employment.
And… it has cut the number of non-farm workers on payrolls across America by 818,000, as of March 2024. That cuts the size of the labour force by around 0.5%.
That suggests the US jobs market has been a little less healthy than we thought.
".. revisions over the last 10 years have averaged plus or minus one-tenth of one percent ..
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) August 21, 2024
".. The preliminary estimate of the benchmark revision indicates an adjustment to March 2024 total nonfarm employment of -818,000 (-0.5 percent)."@BLS_gov https://t.co/jPkwsGZ9x2
BLS #jobs revisions -818K pic.twitter.com/SgEvM7EqB3
— Paper Gains (@PaperGainsInc) August 21, 2024
