The US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the second quarter, expanding at an annualised rate of 4.1%, official figures show. The gains were driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports as firms rushed to beat new trade tariffs. US President Donald Trump described the acceleration as […]

Government borrowing in the April-to-June period fell to its lowest level since 2007, official figures show. Borrowing for the financial year so far has reached £16.8bn, £5.4bn less than in the same period in 2017, the Office for National Statistics said. June’s borrowing figure fell to £5.4bn, which was down from £6.2bn a year ago […]

China’s monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of nearly $29bn (£22bn) in June as exports to America remained strong. The figures come a week after the trade war between the two began, with the US imposing tariffs on $34bn of Chinese goods, and China retaliating. This week, Washington threatened to impose […]

US employers added a higher-than-expected 213,000 jobs last month, extending the US economy’s long-running growth streak. The manufacturing sector helped power the gains, adding 36,000 jobs, but the retail sector shed 22,000 positions. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4% from 3.8%, as the strong labour market encouraged more people to look for work. However, […]

The UK’s economic growth has been revised up for the first quarter of the year after construction data was found to be stronger than earlier estimates. Growth for the three months to March was 0.2%, the Office for National Statistics said, a surprise upgrade from the earlier estimate of 0.1%. The pound jumped as speculation […]