US inflation leaps to 2.5%, as UK real wage growth slides - as it happened
(The Guardian Greece)

Economists fear a renewed pay squeeze as average earnings in the UK drop, just as inflation picks upYellen´s second day of testimony before senatorsUS inflation jumps to four-year highReal wages only growing at 1.4% in UKResolution: It´s going to get worse...Wages growth slows unexpectedlyUK JOBS REPORT: Unemployment down, jobs total up Small fall in EU workers in Britain 5.45pm GMT Helped by some positive economic news and a strong start on Wall Street - partly due to President Trump talking again about forthcoming tax reforms - European markets ended the day higher. The FTSE 100 was boosted by a weaker pound, with the dollar lifted by the prospect of higher interest rates after comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen in the last two days. Banks and mining companies were both among the main gainers. The final scores showed: 5.24pm GMT Over in Greece, EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici has completed a flying visit to Athens on an upbeat note saying the impasse between Greece and its creditors can soon be resolved. Helena Smith reports:Emerging from a series of back-to-back meetings in Athens, the French commissioner expressed optimism that friction over the country´s latest bailout review would be resolved although the likelihood of that happening by February 20 when euro zone finance ministers next meet is almost impossible. Following talks with prime minister Alexis Tsipras, Moscovici emphasized the need for Greeks `to see a light at the end of the austerity tunnel.` Earlier he had told reporters after a `very constructive` 30-minute meeting with finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos that Greece´s place was at the heart of the euro zone. `The fiscal targets can be met and overachieved... the will to go to a solution is there ... and where there is a will there is a way.` That a compromise will come in the form of Greece accepting to implement additional austerity, however, is far from assured. Tsipras took to twitter to welcome Moscovici i ...