The chancellor has given his reaction to the latest unemployment figures: 

Will the US Federal Reserve raise interest rates for the first time since 2006? Former Federal Reserve governor Randy Kroszner tells the BBC's Manuela Saragosa he thinks it will as well as  how he expects the US central bank to implement its exit strategy from zero interest rates.  

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There's better news for the eurozone on the inflation front. Inflation in the currency bloc in November has been revised up to 0.2%. Admittedly inflation of 0.2% isn't a lot but it is, at least, inflation and it is, at least, an upward revision.

Economic output in the eurozone slowed slightly in December from the previous month, according to the latest Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from Markit, external. The index fell to fell to 54 for December down from November's figure of 54.2. That's still well ahead of the 50 mark that indicates growth, however.

Markit says its survey data points to 0.4% growth in eurozone GDP in the three months to the end of December. 

We've also had figures for the number of people employed in the public sector, external, which come out every three months.

There were 5,349,000 people employed in the public sector in September, which was down 12,000 from June and the smallest number empployed since the series began in 1999.

But the rate of fall has slowed, with the number employed falling 59,000 in the comparable period last year. 

And now for news that  may give the US Federal Reserve pause for thought ahead of what is expected to be the first rise in US interest rates in nine years. 

China's economy is still facing downward pressure, while the impact of fiscal and monetary policies that were rolled out this year will be seen by the first half of 2016, the country's central bank has said.

But new infrastructure investment projects will help steady investment growth, and property investment will gradually stabilise in the second half of next year, it adds.

The unemployment figures are based on the labour force survey, which is a very big survey, but still a survey.

It is relatively unusual for the rise or fall in unemployment to fall outside the confidence interval, which allows us to say with 95% confidence that the number of people out of work has risen or fallen.

This month, though, the number fell 110,000, which was well over the confidence interval of 81,000.

BBC economics correspondent tweets:

There were 1.71 million people unemployed between August and October, which was about 110,000 down from the the previous three months.

Pay excluding bonuses was up 2% compared with the same period last year.

The UK unemployment rate for the three months to the end of October has fallen to 5.2%, official figures show. That's close to a ten year low, the Office for National Statistics, external says.

Qatar is expected to post economic growth of 3.7% in 2015, the country's Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics has said. That's significantly below the 7.3% it forecast in June. But it added that the country would record a fiscal surplus this year of 1.7% of GDP, which is above the 1.4% forecast in June.  

Image source, Telegraph

On the front page of the Telegraph is the news that eating lettuce is worse for the environment than eating bacon.

Which is a bit worrying, until it turns out that it's measured in environmental impact per calorie, so transport is what does for the lettuces.

So the message is clear: if you want to save the planet, eat lard.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Once we stopped hearing from the chap who loves working with horses, we did get to hear Joe Lynam's interview with Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James, who is excited about the future of service contracts.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Kudos to the BBC's Joe Lynam, who dashed into the Today Programme studio to fill the gap when the line to Sir John Major was lost, and managed to chat with the presenters despite being completely out of breath.

He was there to play an interview with Dixons Carphone boss Sebastian James, although the first clip played was someone saying: "I love working with horses."

A new hiring policy from the electrical retailer?

And as predicted, the 30% hike in Dixons Carphone's interim dividend makes it the fastest rising stock on the FTSE. It's up 3.7%. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce shares are up 1.6% after those senior management changes were confirmed earlier this morning. Miners Glencore and BHP Billiton are up 1.55% and 2.55% respectively.

The FTSE 100 Index itself is up 0.4% at 6041.15.

Image source, Getty Images

A line on Black Friday from the half year results, external of the electrical retailer Dixons Carphone.

Chief executive Sebastian James said the company had "a strong Black Friday", in contrast to lukewarm comments from some other retailers.

He also said: "I am particularly pleased to see progress in Southern Europe despite a lively year in the Greek political and economic scene."

Image source, Getty Images

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed, external it remains on course to begin the sale of its Williams & Glyn brand in the first three months of 2017. It says it expects to complete the disposal of the bank by the end of that year.

The bank has already received a "number of informal approaches for the business". As a result, while also making preparations for a public sale of shares in the bank, it is also planning a trade sale process for the first half of next year, with the aim of achieving a binding agreement by the end of the year.