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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 18 december 2019

UK employment rises to record high but vacancies drop

By PAN PYLAS uncertainty, there are con- goods and impose a series
Associated Press cerns about the coming of other barriers to trade.
LONDON (AP) — The pro- months. The pound was down 1%
portion of people in work That was highlighted by at $1.3195 following those
in Britain has risen to an all- Tuesday's figures on job reports.
time high, though a sharp vacancies, which fell for "With Brexit uncertainty al-
fall in the number of va- the tenth month running, ready making a comeback
cancies suggests that em- this time by 20,000 from the and investment set to re-
ployers remained cautious previous three-month pe- main low in 2020, hiring ap-
about hiring in the run-up riod to below 800,000. petite is unlikely to improve
to last week's general elec- Though much of the uncer- significantly any time soon,"
tion, official figures showed tainty surrounding Britain's said James Smith, devel-
Tuesday. departure from the Euro- oped markets economist
The Office for National pean Union has diminished Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England speaks at a at ING.
Statistics said the number following the overwhelm- Bank of England Financial Stability Report Press Conference, in However Brexit plays out,
London, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019.
of people in work rose by ing election victory for Associated Press the Bank of England is
24,000 to 32.8 million in the Prime Minister Boris John- widely expected to keep
the three months to Octo- son's Conservatives, there for Britain to leave the EU by that deadline cannot be its main interest rate, the
ber, pushing the employ- are still worries about the the scheduled departure extended. That has raised bank rate, on hold at 0.75%
ment rate to the new all- future relationship between date of the end of January. concerns in financial mar- on Thursday. Though the
time high of 76.2%. Mean- Britain and the EU and that After that, Britain is set to re- kets that Britain could face economy has slowed over
while, unemployment fell could hobble the economy main in the tariff-free single another cliff-edge mo- the past year, growing by a
to 3.8%, its joint-lowest level in 2020. market and customs union ment in just over a year. If near seven-year low of 0.7%
since 1975. Johnson now has a major- until the end of 2020. no trade deal is agreed on, in the year to October, the
Though the jobs figures ity to easily get his Brexit Reports on Tuesday indi- Britain and the EU would jobs figures remain strong
have remained solid over withdrawal bill through the cated that Johnson wants in that situation have to and near-term Brexit uncer-
the past few years of Brexit House of Commons in time to create a law to ensure slap tariffs on each others' tainty has diminished.q
UN urges ‘reboot’ of refugee response as millions uprooted

Associated Press to hosting and integrating for solutions,” Filippo Gran-
BERLIN (AP) — The United millions of refugees world- di, the U.N. High Commis-
Nations urged govern- wide. sioner for Refugees, told
ments, businesses and oth- But it also underscored in- the event. He noted that
ers on Tuesday to “reboot” ternational tensions, with the number is far higher if
the world’s response to Turkey’s president com- people displaced within
refugees as the number of plaining of a lack of sup- their own countries are
people fleeing their homes port for his country’s plans added in. He called for a
rises along with hostility to to resettle up to a million “broad alliance” of gov-
migrants. Syrian refugees in Turkey to ernments, business, devel-
The first Global Refugee Turkish-controlled regions opment institutions, the aid
Forum, being hosted in Ge- of northern Syria. Pakistan’s community, sports orga-
neva by the U.N. and Swit- prime minister, Imran Khan, nizations and others. Busi-
zerland on Tuesday and used his appearance to ness executives and the Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis delivers a statement
Wednesday, is meant to criticize neighbor and head of the International during the UNHCR - Global Refugee Forum at the European
draw pledges to pave the archrival India. “Our world Olympic Committee were headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland,
way for a fairer and more is in turmoil and 25 million among those attending Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019.
coordinated approach refugees are looking to us the forum.q Associated Press