Day: December 14, 2021

The unemployment rate in the UK has fallen to 4.2% as of October — 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous quarter, according to data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.

“August to October estimates show a continuing recovery in the labour market,” the ONS said in its announcement of the 4.2% figure, which stands for nearly 1.4 million people, down from 4.3% in the three months to the end of September.

The data showed the number of workers on company payrolls up by 257,000 in November from a month earlier, representing the largest monthly rise in payroll employment on record since 2014.

Employment in the UK is estimated at 75.5%, 1.1 percentage points lower than before the coronavirus pandemic.

The economic inactivity rate was projected at 21.2%, which was 1 percentage point higher than the pre-pandemic and 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous quarter.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised the Bank of England on Tuesday to avoid inaction on interest rates amid rising inflation before its key monetary policy meeting.

“Given the shadow of Covid-19/Omicron uncertainty, in choosing the pace policymakers will have to weigh risks,” the IMF said in its United Kingdom Staff Concluding Statement of the 2021 Article IV Mission.

Inaction by the Bank of England could continue to raise costs and allow further inflation, according to the international financial institution.

But if it would take early action on interest rates, it could also slow economic recovery, it said.

“It would be important to avoid inaction bias,” the statement said. “Careful communication would be needed to lay the groundwork with markets for potentially more frequent policy moves.”

In the UK, annual consumer prices rose 4.2% in October, the highest 12-month inflation rate since November 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Inflation data for November will be released Wednesday, one day before the Bank of England’s next meeting.

Source: Anadolu Agency

No US soldiers will be held accountable for a drone strike in August that killed 10 civilians in the Afghan capital Kabul, the Pentagon said Monday.

At a press briefing, spokesman John Kirby recalled that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asked US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie and US Special Operations Command leader Gen. Richard Clarke to come up with a review and recommendations.

“They did that and they did it on time. And none of their recommendations dealt specifically with issues of accountability,” Kirby told reporters.

“The secretary reviewed their recommendations…he approved their recommendations. So I do not anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had with respect to the Aug. 29 airstrike,” he added.

In September, the US acknowledged that the airstrike resulted in the deaths of 10 civilians, including an aid worker and up to seven children.

Zamari Ahmadi, the humanitarian worker whose vehicle was targeted in the courtyard of his home in the Kabul airstrike, was suspected by the US military of having ties to Daesh/ISIS-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).

The strike took place three days after Daesh/ISIS-K carried out a multiple suicide bomber attack on Kabul’s international airport that left over 150 people dead, including scores of Afghans seeking to flee the country following the Taliban’s takeover.

Source: Anadolu Agency