Australia’s surprise unemployment spike suggests an economy not overheating but in need of stimulus | Greg Jericho

You didn’t vote for it, you weren’t even asked, but it was decided three years ago – mostly by those running the Reserve Bank – that Australia needed an extra 150,000 or so people to be unemployed. Back in 2022 Australia’s unemployment was 3.5%; last week the Bureau of Statistics announced it had reached 4.5% – roughly an extra 150,000 people out of work.Goodbye full employment, welcome back the arbitrary higher level of people being out of a job for the good of the economy

UK energy firms call for overhaul of regulator Ofgem

The UK’s energy companies have called for a radical shake-up of the regulator Ofgem, accusing it of overseeing a rise in domestic bills and slowing Britain’s economic growth.The industry’s trade association, Energy UK, has called for Ofgem to be stripped of some of its responsibilities after overseeing “a dramatic increase in red tape” that it claims has reduced growth and pushed up costs for households.In a report, the trade group noted that despite the government’s plan to reduce the cost of regulation by 25% by the end of this parliament, Ofgem’s headcount had been allowed to increase by 120% over the past 10 years while its budget grew by 200%. By contrast, the energy sector’s workforce had grown by only 8% over the same period. Ofgem is the energy regulator for Great Britain

Barclays plays down £20bn exposure to private credit industry

Barclays has insisted it has the right controls in place to manage a £20bn exposure to the under-fire private credit industry despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank of England.The bank’s chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, said it ran a “very risk-controlled shop” and was comfortable with its lending standards for the private credit industry.That was despite taking a £110m loss over the US sub-prime auto lender Tricolor, which collapsed amid fraud allegations last month.Losses stemming from the dual collapse of Tricolour and the US auto parts company First Brands have raised fears over potentially weak lending standards in the private credit industry. There are concerns that the potential fallout could destabilise traditional banks that issue loans to the shadow banking sector

‘It’s 3p on a pack of sausages’: UK food firms say packaging tax adds to inflation

A packaging tax designed to end our throwaway society is under fire for inadvertently adding to food price inflation as it pushes up the cost of everything from sausages to soft drinks.“It’s about 3p on a pack of sausages,” says Andrew Keeble, the co-founder of Heck, of the new extended producer responsibility (EPR) tax.This year’s packaging tax bill for the family-run food manufacturer, based near Bedale, North Yorkshire, which landed this month, is £153,000.Heck has already absorbed the increases in employer national insurance contributions and the “national living wage” announced a year ago by the chancellor, but Keeble suggests this new tax will have to be “passed on to a fairly cash-strapped nation”.The packaging levy – designed to end excessive packaging and create a circular economy – transfers the cost of recycling the ready meal containers and wine bottles in your kerbside bin from councils back on to the companies that sold them

Signs of peak inflation open door to earlier Bank of England interest rate cuts

Has UK inflation peaked? The latest official figures showing price growth in the UK stayed at 3.8% in September seem to suggest so.The statement cannot be made with absolute certainty yet but many economists reacted to the latest consumer prices index (CPI) data with a message that the only direction for inflation over the rest of the year was down.City economists had expected the Office for National Statistics to report an increase from August’s 3.8% to 4%, and they were in good company – the Bank of England also said inflation would top out at that level last month

Eurostar to run doubledecker trains through Channel tunnel from 2031

Eurostar is to start running doubledecker trains through the Channel tunnel to meet growing demand for international rail travel from the UK.The rail operator announced it had signed a €2bn (£1.7bn) deal for at least 30 – and up to 50 – new trains from the manufacturer Alstom.The doubledeckers will start operating from 2031, with each able to carry more than 1,000 passengers.Eurostar said the Celestia trains, the first high-speed doubledeckers to run on the UK mainland, would have about 20% more seats than its biggest existing trains