this is business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. wall street hits new record highs as the us economy powers ahead. but will america's lowest paid finally start to feel the benefit? plus, trumping the tower. dubai already has the world's tallest building, so with a slump in real estate prices, why does it want an even taller one? and on the markets, asian shares are close to record highs, as that rally on us markets continues, with the dow closing above 25,000 for the first time. we start in new york, where the temperatures may be sub—zero, but the financial markets are hotter than ever. us shares hit new record highs yet again on thursday. the dow jones industrial average closing above 25 thousand points for the first time.

it's all being driven by wall street optimism about the state of the world's biggest economy, and, despite all the controversy in the white house, the pro—growth policies of president trump. on thursday, a report showed the us private sector created 250,000 newjobs in december — a third more than was expected. that could bode well for official us jobs numbers out later today. earlier this week, the federal reserve revealed it has boosted its growth forecast for the us economy this year to 2.5% — keeping up the pace seen in 2017. those fed minutes also showed this was, at least partly, down to the $1.5 trillion worth of tax cuts president trump signed into lawjust before christmas. and these graphs speak for themselves. us shares setting record after record since the president was inaugurated a year ago. despite all this, millions of working americans have yet to feel the benefit.

average earnings have been stagnant for the past decade. but that could change this year as 18 states finally bring in a rise in the minimum wage. from new york, samira hussain reports. she has three children, two of which live at her in a shelter. a fast worker in new york, shejust live at her in a shelter. a fast worker in new york, she just got a pay raise. she is planning to move out of the shelter by february. the extra money, i guess it would go toward more rent or more food, whatever i need to pay for my kids. maybe a couple of new outfits for make it. it is betterfor them. americans have been craving and fighting for erase since the end of the global financial crisis. the federal minimum weight has not gone up federal minimum weight has not gone up since 2009. —— wage. the unemployment rate is at record lows,

but wages are not going up. a conundrum even america's chief central banker, janet yellen, has been struggling to explain. generally, in a strong labour market where many firms are having difficulty finding quality workers, we would expect, just through normal demand and supply, channels to see some upward pressure on wage growth over time. at the labour market has tightened, we have seen some very gradual drift upward in that wage gains. a tight labour market should mean that employers have to pay more to get the best worker, but that has not been the case, and many economists have been trying to figure out why. 0ne economists have been trying to figure out why. one possible reason could be that workers have less bargaining power, they are not as mobile, there is an increased use of technology, and, of course, there is the decline of labour unions. but for workers who do get an increase,

it is life changing. it is a lot to me. i mumble when we were getting paid $7.50. —— i rememberwhen. that isa paid $7.50. —— i rememberwhen. that is a real jump. paid $7.50. —— i rememberwhen. that is a realjump. to be up there with an average person to try to take ca re of an average person to try to take care of your family an average person to try to take care of yourfamily and do an average person to try to take care of your family and do what you need to do to take care of your kids. samira hussain, bbc news, new york. there's been more progress towards what could be the biggest stock market flotation in history. saudi arabia has changed the status of its state oil giant aramco to a joint—stock company, effectively dividing it up into shares ready to sell some of them off. it's being closely watched in new york, london, tokyo, and hong kong, all of which are hoping to attract the firm to their stock markets. and it's also being closely watched by mariko 0i in singapore. welcome to you. what do you make of it? it is definitely seen as a major step ahead of that well anticipated share sale you have just mentioned.

saudi arabia has been a special entity since it was created 30 years ago. it has now been brought in line with other corporations, which is necessary as they plan for a dual listing at home and internationally. they were supposed to give us an idea of where they would list overseas in the end of last year. we had everyone from president trump to the japanese prime minister urging the japanese prime minister urging the authorities to list their shares, while china even was reported as offering to buy 5% of it. the kingdom wants to raise $100 billion, with the saudi prince hoping that they would value the company at $2 trillion. the share sale is the centrepiece of ambitious plans to reform the company as they wa nt to plans to reform the company as they want to rely less on oil, it also gives international investors access to one of the kingdom's best priced

industries. a lot to play for. mariko 0i, good to talk to you. let's go to dubai now, already the home of the world's tallest building, the burj khalifa. now developers have begun construction on an even taller tower. it's part of an ambitious project that comes despite a slump in real estate values in the emirate. jeremy howell went to find out why they are so confident. soaring to a height of 828 metres, is to buy‘s burj khalifa, the tallest tower in the world. now dubai wants to beat its own record, with the creek other tower. it will be 80 metres taller than a burj khalifa with observation decks and banqueting halls at the top. property developers are building it at the lower end of dubai creek, an area of quiet beauty. here the company is also planning to build, the next 20 years, a high—rise residential area, large enough to house a70 class and people —— a07

2000 people. the first apartment blocks are being built. they are coming on the market during uncertain times. property prices in to buy have fallen by about 35% in the past two years. that raises a question, where is the demand going to come forfour question, where is the demand going to come for four and other dubai construction project? who is going to pay top dollar. we have a population still investing big time in the city. the amazing thing about dubai is that it does serve the arab world, close to 100 million people, but we have another 200,000, 300,000 people in africa. dubai's population has grown tenfold over the past 30 yea rs, has grown tenfold over the past 30 years, with people coming from abroad seeking higher salaries and sta ble abroad seeking higher salaries and stable living conditions. they are gambling that is still a huge pool of people willing to do the same. they have a lot of experience doing

that. they'd built the dubai marina. there was no demand for it at the beginning. no demographics. they created because of the quality and infrastructure of where they have built. they have built projects of this magnitude and managed to create their own devan. it is extraordinary. build it and they will come, is dubai's guiding printable. this is by far the biggest building project ever played in the city and could put it to its ha rd est to get in the city and could put it to its hardest to get —— principle. i have been up that lived in burj khalifa. hard to believe and even taller building. now let's brief you some other business stories. the trump administration has proposed a controversial plan to open a protected areas in the pacific and atlantic oceans for offshore drilling. it fulfils a promise to boost us domestic oil and domestic gas production. environmentalists have called it a shameful giveaway to the oil industry. music streaming service spotify says it now has 70 million paying subscribers.

the announcement comes a day after reports the company plans to list on the new york stock exchange. including people who use its free advertising—backed service spotify has 1a0 million active users and is valued at over $19 billion. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning: from wired — legal weed startups aren't sweating a crackdown just yet. it says the us marijuana industry remains ‘pretty chilled', despite attorney generaljeff sessions overturning 0bama—era policy on the drug. forbes is among those discussing spofity‘s plans. it warns a $1.6 billion lawsuit is sending spotify off into troubled legal territory. the wall streetjournal sounds a not of caution about the stock market euphoria. the dow has soared to 25,000. but many individual investors are sitting on the sidelines and don't forget, let's us know what you are spotting online

— use #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. asian shares are close to record highs, following on from that record close on wall street, with the dow closing above 25,000 for the first time. much of that down to a report on thursday that showed us private sector employers added 250,000 jobs in december, the biggest monthly increase since march and well above economists' expectations of a rise of 190,000. all eyes now on official government jobs figures out later this friday. up next, newsbriefing — we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today including. the parole board is coming under pressure to explain its decision

to release the serial sex offender, john worboys. he was jailed in 2009 for offences against twelve women, who were attacked in his cab after he'd given them champagne spiked with drugs. it's believed there were dozens more victims. here's our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford. for six years, john worboys cruised smart areas of london in his black cab looking for women to drug and rape. when he was finally caught, thejudge said he'd serve a minimum of eight years in prison and said he wouldn't be released until he was no longer a threat to women. worboys would show young women he picked up in his cab large wads of cash, saying he'd recently won big at the casino. then he'd offer them champagne, which he'd spiked with sedatives, and rape them. the judge gave him what's known as an indeterminate sentence, under which, people are only freed once they're no longer considered dangerous. but today, the bbc discovered

that the parole board has decided worboys will be released this month under supervision after spending less than ten years in prison. i've spoken to one of my clients, who is absolutely horrified and really distressed that nobody had the courtesy to inform her, so she's in the middle of cooking tea for her kids and she hears this on the radio, and feels absolutely sick to her stomach. the organisation, rape crisis, said it was far too soon for worboys to be released. although police believed john worboys attacked over 100 women, he was only convicted of attacking 12. and only one of those convictions was for rape. and that's why his sentence was so short. all the same, under the indeterminate sentence rules, the parole board will need to have assured themselves thatjohn worboys was no longer a risk as a sexual predator. daniel sandford, bbc news. coming up on breakfast — charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news,

business and sport. that's breakfast at six. this is the briefing from a bbc news. the latest headlines. with tensions high over its nuclear and missile programme, north korea has accepted the south korean government's proposal for high—level talks. a new book containing damning allegations about the trump administration is being rushed to publication on friday, four days ahead of schedule, as lawyers for the president try to stop it. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with a metro. and the arab news reveals that the us has requested an emergency un security council meeting to discuss the u nrest council meeting to discuss the unrest ina council meeting to discuss the unrest in a run. it will be held later running today. when one people died in the practice. the

independent has a story about a proposed lysate levy in the uk, british politicians want to introduce a 25p tax on every cup of coffee in an effort to tackle the disposable copy cup problem. the daily telegraph reports that facebook founder mark zuckerberg has promised to dedicate this you to fixing the social network. he has admitted that a barrage of scandals has meant that users have lost faith in the side. and finally, in the new york times, resident in bookish ema are using sport to try to rehabilitate their image after the devastating 2011 earthquake and an army which triggered a nuclear disaster —— the new york times. so let's begin. with me is broadcaster henry bonsu. starting with the metro. a not so veiled reference to one of the stories about trump in the white house, which supposedly says his daughter ivanka does reveal the

people the truth behind the hair and thatis people the truth behind the hair and that is that he had some sort of scalp reduction. i was looking at the details of this. we wouldn't have thought it would be in a serious story like the metro. they could have gone with other stories like trump sits there at 6:30am eating chicken nuggets and goes to bed at 6:30pm. lots of other things. iam bed at 6:30pm. lots of other things. i am amazed they are trying to squash the first amendment rights. clearly he is irked by this to an extreme degree. but it confirms what a lot of people have thought about donald trump. he didn't