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Jobs Data Increases US Rate Rise Prospects

As US unemployment dips below 5m an interest rate rise becomes more likely. Plus, oil giant Exxon Mobil is investigated for misleading people about the impact of climate change.

US unemployment fell to 5% last month. The non-farm payroll report showed that the number of people without a job dipped below 5m. However, these positive numbers increase the likelihood that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will raise interest rates from their current all time low, at their meeting in December. Despite the marked improvement in the jobs picture, the number of people in work is still well below what it was before the financial crisis. We talk to economist Carl Weinberg at High Frequency Economics in New York about the implications of these figures.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil is being investigated for misleading the public about the impact of climate change. The New York attorney general has sent a request for emails and financial records to the company. Allegations from the campaign group Greenpeace surfaced last month that the company's own scientists raised concerns about global warming decades ago and that Exxon had worked to suppress that information. The company has denied the allegations calling them "inaccurate distortions".

A few months ago Yanis Varoufakis was never out of the news. Greece's former finance minister won plenty of friends and enemies as he rolled up to talks with his country's creditors on his motorbike, and tried to drive a hard bargain in securing access to fresh bailout funds. A reshuffle relieved him of his post after he was criticised for his abrasive style of negotiation. Since then, though, he has been getting the rock star treatment as the 91热爆's Manuela Saragosa found out at the Kilkenomics festival in Kilkenny, Ireland.

And in our regular look back at the week in business, more countries suspend flights to Egypt following the Russian plan crash, Volkswagen鈥檚 troubles spread to petrol vehicles and we discuss which toys will be topping the charts this Christmas. Picture: Construction workers in New York; Picture credit: Getty Images

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27 minutes

Last on

Fri 6 Nov 2015 18:32GMT

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  • Fri 6 Nov 2015 18:32GMT