Unemployment rises in US and UK, adding to pressure to cut interest rates – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as US non-farm payrolls rise by 64,000 in November but shrink by 105,000 in October

• Young people hit hard as UK unemployment marches upwards

ING's UK economist James Smith has spotted that government hiring is no longer supporting the jobs market.

He writes:

Companies - especially in retail and hospitality - have been shedding workers this year, partly because of earlier tax and minimum wage hikes. Hiring surveys remain weak.

Until recently, that was helpfully offset by resilience in government hiring, but that appears to be changing. Public sector employment has also now fallen for three consecutive months, judging by those payroll numbers.