Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak sought to balance more jobs support with controversial spending cuts to help pay back the U.K.’s huge pandemic debts, as he warned the country is facing an “economic emergency.”
With unemployment expected to reach 7.5% next year, Sunak announced billions of pounds for infrastructure to boost jobs and a wage rise for the lowest-paid workers. But he cut funding for policies he said were hard to “justify” -- such as public sector pay increases and overseas aid.
