Mr Micawber would not be pleased. British households, companies and government together are spending approximately 5% more than we are earning. We are now worse than any other OECD country; even below the US who spend 1%.
UK employment
The number of people in work rose by 179,000 to 32.71 million in the three months to the end of February, the highest since 1971. The Office for National Statistics said that jobless numbers fell by 27,000 to 1.34 million, putting the unemployment rate at 3.9 per cent, the lowest since 1975.
U.S. Q4 GDP revised down
The U.S. economy showed further signs of slowing as the 4Q18 GDP figure was revised down to 2.2%, which was significantly lower than the 2.6% initially reported. After business investment, consumer spending and local government expenditures were accounted for, the final GDP figure came in below economists forecast of 2.5%. The revised figure did not change the full year GDP growth rate, which remains at 2.9%.