29 h. ago Reeves concedes Government has ‘more to do’ as unemployment at four

The Chancellor insisted Labour had been ‘creating more jobs’ since entering office despite vacancy numbers declining over the last quarter.

Politics

4 d. ago ‘It’s missing something’: AGI, superintelligence and a race for the future

As US and Chinese tech giants chase artificial general intelligence, experts warn the hype may be outrunning the scienceA significant step forward but not a leap over the finish line. That was how Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, described the latest upgrade to ChatGPT this week.The race Altman was referring to was artificial general intelligence (AGI), a theoretical state of AI where, by OpenAI’s definition, a highly autonomous system is able to do a human’s job. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Donald Trump’s attack on US labour statistics agency spooks investors

President’s decision to sack Bureau of Labor Statistics chief undermines faith in official data, economists warn

Politics

8 d. ago Trump’s attack on US labour statistics agency spooks investors

President’s decision to sack Bureau of Labor Statistics chief undermines faith in official data, economists warn

Politics

8 d. ago Trump says treasury chief Scott Bessent no longer being considered for Fed chair

Trump may soon name pick for open Fed board seat and Fed chair nominee, but Bessent wants to stay in current roleDonald Trump said he would “shortly” announce his pick for an open seat on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors and possibly his nominee for Fed chair as well, but that he had removed the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, from consideration since Bessent wants to remain in his current job.In a CNBC interview, Trump called it a “pleasant surprise” that the Fed governor Adriana Kugler had decided to leave her seat now instead of when her term ends in January, a move that appears to have accelerated Trump’s decision on who to appoint to an open seat on the Fed board with possible plans to promote that person to the top policymaking role when the term of the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, ends in May. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump to appoint Fed governor and labour statistics chief this week

US president set to tighten grip on economic information and policymaking after controversial sacking of BLS official

Politics

3 w. ago Trump won't appoint a special prosecutor for Epstein 'hoax' as Karoline Leavitt mocks renewed interest

The White House clarified Thursday that President Donald Trump did not support the idea of appointing a special prosecutor to review files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Politics

3 w. ago UK unemployment jumps to highest since 2021 as wage growth slows

The Office for National Statistics said the rate of UK unemployment increased to 4.7% in the three months to May.

Politics

4 w. ago Teenage pregnancy rates are a barometer of Britain’s progress. The tale they now tell is not reassuring | Polly Toynbee

Years of austerity have destroyed the web of services that tackled this complex problem. Compared to our European neighbours, we are failingIt takes the passing of time to fully grasp the scale of the previous government’s vandalism. Think where we would be now had the Tories not dismantled the social programmes they inherited from New Labour, with so many showing rapid progress. Those watching the statistics had a jolt last week when figures from the Office for National Statistics for 2022 seemed to show the second annual rise in teenage pregnancies in England and Wales, after a decade of falling rates.This may turn out to be the result of pandemic distortions in the previous year, when numbers dropped due to teens not meeting. The next figures may return to the previous trajectory, but that’s still a sluggish rate of falling teenage conceptions and it throws into stark perspective how far Britain lags behind similar countries. The UK now has the 22nd-lowest teenage pregnancy rate ...

Politics