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In the UK, the government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill is expected to be voted through the House of Commons today. The bill – which is expected to sail through – sets the stage for the UK leaving the European Union at the end of this month. There then follows an 11-month transition phase, during which the UK and the EU will negotiate their future relationship.
In Europe meanwhile, we get the latest on the eurozone labour market. The employment picture was little changed for most of last year, with the unemployment rate hovering at around 7.5%. That’s not expected to have changed in November. Survey data also shows few signs of any plans by companies to embark on big hiring sprees.
And in the US later today, we get the latest weekly jobless claims data. This is the most timely snapshot of the US labour market available. However, unless the figures are much better or worse than expected, its impact is likely to be overshadowed by tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls report.