Newsflash: Job creation across the US has slowed at the start of Donald Trump’s second term, after a blistering finish to 2024.US non-farm payrolls rose by 143,000 in January, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.That’s weaker than the 170,000 new jobs expected last month.It’s also a sharp slowdown on December, where the BLS has revised up its estimates and now says payrolls rose by 307,000, 51,000 more than its initial estimate of 256,000.The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.

0% in January, the BLS says, adding:Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, and social assistance.Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.Time to wrap up….Hiring across the US economy moderated in January, but the labor market continued to grow at a steady pace during the transition period between Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s presidencies.New data from the labor department released on Friday showed 143,000 jobs added to the economy in January, short of the 168,000 expected by economists.

The unemployment rate remained steady at a relatively low 4%, edging slightly downward from 4.1% in December.‘Stagflation’ fears have risen after the Bank of England cut its growth forecast and warns of price rises yesterday.Today, the Bank’s chief economist said it was too early to declare ‘job done’ in the battle to deflate the economy.In other news…Claims management companies will be hit with a £250 fee for filing complaints at the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service.

Global food commodity prices fell in January, led by sharp falls in sugar and vegetable oilsBoE governor Andrew Bailey has told the BBC that the US must continue to support the IMF and the World BankIndia has cut interest rates for the first time in five yearsHong Kong will complain to the WTO over the tariffs imposed by Donald TrumpLloyds Banking Group has embarked on a major shake-up of its 6,000 strong IT, tech and engineering workforce that could put more than 200 jobs at risk.UK house prices bounced upwards in January to a record high as many buyers rushed to complete deals before a stamp duty increase this spring, according to one of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders.Two former senior figures at bankrupt Woking council are to be investigated by the UK’s accounting watchdog after it racked up more than £2bn in debt on a failed investment spree.And…the gambling regulator has accidentally handed over more than 4,000 sensitive documents to lawyers acting for the media tycoon Richard Desmond, in an “unprecedented” blunder during its legal battle over the £6.4bn national lottery contract, the Guardian understands.

Goodnight,GWA Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson has confirmed that some “talented people” will be lost through its IT shake-up, saying:“To achieve the ambitious strategy we launched in February 2022 and deliver better service to our customers, we are transforming our business,We are excited about the progress we have made, which is already delivering benefits,As we remain focused on achieving engineering excellence and building highly skilled tech teams as we move faster forward to deliver great outcomes for our customers, we are creating 1200 net new roles,“Making changes means not only creating new roles and upskilling colleagues but also saying goodbye to talented people who have been part of the Group’s success in the past.

Where that is the case, we will do everything we can to support them with the changes recently announced,We know change can be uncomfortable, but we are excited about the opportunities ahead as we propel forward to achieve our growth ambitions and delivering exceptional customer experiences,”Lloyds Banking Group has embarked on a major shake-up of its 6,000 strong IT, tech and engineering workforce that could put more than 200 jobs at risk,While Lloyds is creating 1,200 new jobs, in areas including software and data engineering, existing staff need to determine whether their skills can translate into the new roles and teams,One of Lloyds’ staff unions, Accord, estimates that around 200 colleagues could be at risk of redundancy because their roles have been removed from the new organisational structure.

A further 100 colleagues are at risk due to the location, being more than 25 miles or 1hr 15min from one of the designated hubs, Accord said.It comes as Lloyds makes a major push to digitise its operations and accelerate a customer transition to online and mobile banking.In its announcement to staff, executives went so far as to refer to Lloyds as a “fintech”, saying the overhaul was:“...

a gamechanger for Lloyds Banking Group, that’s going to drive engineering excellence, deliver enhanced customer experiences and fuel our growth to become the UK’s biggest fintech,”In an online notice about the restructuring plans, Accord said:“This approach means that successful candidates may have to agree to change their working arrangements to stay in employment,Some others will not be that lucky and will face possible redundancy if they don’t secure a role due to skills, location or the reduced demand for certain roles,”It added:“These changes are more than just strategic decisions—they have real and personal consequences for the colleagues affected,”Lloyds CEO Charlie Nunn is due to give a progress update on his five year strategic plan on 20 February.

The Finance & Leasing Association has welcomed the Financial Ombudsman Service’s (FOS) decision that charging claims management companies must pay £250 to lodge a complaint (see earlier post).The lobby group’s director general Stephen Haddrill said:“The introduction of charging is a most important step forward.CMCs are major businesses that should not have a free ride, not least because they have driven a compensation culture that damages investor confidence in the UK and threatens growth.However, today’s decision on the level of the charge is unsatisfactory and we will continue to call for it to be increased.“Professional representatives should be charged on the same basis as lender firms to deliver a fair and equitable approach.

And the suggestion that lenders must pay the lion’s-share of the case fee (£475) even when they are not at fault runs counter to FOS’s aim of applying a ‘polluter pays’ principle,We know of no other example where the loser in a case involving two businesses pays less than the winner,”The CEO of TSB, Robin Bulloch, has seen his annual pay package surge 37% to £2,6m, in his final year at the head of the UK high street lender,Bulloch’s pay package is up from £1.

9m a year earlier, and grew as a result of the vesting of shares in a long-term bonus scheme.That long-term incentive plan was worth £464,760.Bulloch is due to hand over to his successor Marc Armengol in the coming weeks, subject to regulatory approval.Armengol, a former strategy director at TSB who has served on the board since 2022, originally joined the UK bank’s Spanish owner Sabadell in 2002.Meanwhile, TSB marginally increased its banker bonus pool from £25.

2m to £25.5m, after recording a pre-tax profit of £290.4m for 2024, up 22.4% on the previous year.TSB also said on Friday it will pay a £300m dividend to Sabadell.

This all comes with the backdrop of Sabadell trying to resist a hostile takeover bid by Spanish rival BBVA.The prospects of a takeover has raised concerns over whether TSB might be sold or spun out under a new owner.The CEO of BBVA said in December that he had not yet decided whether he will sell TSB if his bank succeeds in its $13bn hostile bid.Onur Genc told the FT Banking Summit:We have to see once we complete the deal.”Wall Street has made a muted start to the final trading day of the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average has risen by 50 points, or 0.11%, to 44,798 points, while the broader S&P 500 is up 0.2%.Two weeks after being ousted as chair of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Marcus Bokkerink, has defended his record at the regulator.In a five-page (!) post on LinkedIn, Bokkerink says he advocated an approach of “driving economic growth that prioritises the benefits for consumers and businesses across the UK”.

That reads like a rebuttal to the government, who forced Bokkerink out as part of a push to make regulators take growth more seriously, as ministers tried to woo business leaders at Davos.Bokkerink says he made the CMA drive “tangible benefits” for people, businesses and the UK economy, with a view that “market-based solutions” were better than regulation, where possible, and raised transparency and accountability at the regulator.He concludes by pointing out that the CMA had already published a draft plan about it strategy, saying:“The government has indicated it seeks a different approach to what is set out in that plan...

While it is not yet explicit what that different approach will be, there is of course always an alternative,”“The US employment market remains in decent health,” argues Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton Investors, adding:The January jobs gain was a little below expectations, but labour force participation was strong and average earnings were impressive,There is nothing in these numbers to suggest anything other than the economy remains robust, without rushing ahead or weakening in a worrying way,Policy makers will like what they see and we can now get back to worrying about global trade and tariffs,Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, says:January job creation could have been impacted by the fires in California and from uncertainty caused by the change in administration in the US.

President Trump’s tariffs and his new economic policy could have meant that employers sat on the sidelines in January, and we will need to see if that continues this month,Today’s US jobs report could make the Federal Reserve’s job harder, suggests Joe Gaffoglio, CEO and president at Mutual Of America Capital Management,He says:“The slower jobs report for January could make the Federal Reserve’s work tougher with respect to the timing and pace of future interest rate cuts, as it will have to balance a weakening labor market against inflation levels that remain above their stated target,While hiring across sectors was uneven, with service providers driving most of the job creation, it’s worth noting that wage growth overall remains strong and fewer workers are quitting their jobs,”In a boost to US workers, average hourly earnings rose 0.

5% in January, faster than the 0.3% recorded in December.While that will please employees, it won’t encourage the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more quickly.Today’s jobs report says:In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 17 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $35.

87,On an annual basis, wages increased 4,1% in the 12 months to January,Interestingly, the US labor statistics bureau has also slashed its estimate for employment levels last spring, by over half a million jobs,“In accordance with annual practice,” the BLS has updated its estimates for payroll numbers.

It says:The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 589,000.On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 598,000, or -0.4 percent.Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.

Newsflash: Job creation across the US has slowed at the start of Donald Trump’s second term, after a blistering finish to 2024,US non-farm payrolls rose by 143,000 in January, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows,That’s weaker than the 170,000 new jobs expected last month,It’s also a sharp slowdown on December, where the BLS has revised up its estimates and now says payrolls rose by 307,000, 51,000 more than its initial estimate of 256,000,The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.

0% in January, the BLS says, adding:Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, and social assistance.Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.The Bank of England’s chief economist then suggests there is a danger that the rise in employers NICs contributions gets “overstated in importance”.Huw Pill explains that taking a ‘macroeconomic view of the UK economy over the longer run” shows that that increase is not the main driver on the labour market, compared to pandemic and inflationary shocks over recent quarters.Pill suggests that the media may have emphasised the NICs issue too much, but does also understand that many firms will be facing a large, immediate, challenge of higher costs.

He adds that the tax increase is affecting employment levels, but will also lead to higher prices.Huw Pill is then asked whether the Bank could cut UK interest rates by 50 basis points (half a percentage point), as two policymakers voted for yesterday.Pill doesn’t sound very keen, arguing that the Bank’s new policy of taking a “gradual and careful” approach suggests it won’t be rushing into more sizable moves.He isn’t ruling anything out, though.This could be a tough Pill for some to swallow*BOE'S PILL: NOT IN SITUATION WHERE CAN DECLARE 'JOB DONE'*BOE'S PILL: NEED TO MAINTAIN SOME RESTRICTION IN POLICY*BOE'S PILL: NEED TO BE GRADUAL AND CAREFUL IN EASINGThe Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill, has welcomed signs that pay growth is slowing, but warned that it’s too early to claim victory over inflation.

Speaking to the Bank’s agents on a video call today, Pill says that the Bank now expects average earnings to rise by 3.7% this year.A year ago, it forecast 5.3% – a prediction that proved accurate.Pill (who got in hot water two years ago for saying Britons ‘need to accept’ they’re poorer) says this fall in pay growth shows that there is an ongoing, successful, process of disinflation underway