Dovish Powell hints at more rate cuts in US August 22, 2025 The Federal Reserve is likely to cut US interest rates at its next decision in September, Jay Powell has said, despite the country’s softening labour market being in conflict with upward pressure in prices from Donald Trump’s tariffs. In an eagerly anticipated address at the Jackson Hole symposium, the Fed chair highlighted slower economic growth, [...]
Wage growth hits five per cent as more jobs shed August 12, 2025 Wage growth hit five per cent June as more jobs were shed due to higher labour costs introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, official data has revealed. Pay growth excluding bonuses in the three months to June was the same as the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in a caution to [...]
Starting pay growth at slowest pace since 2021 August 11, 2025 Pay for new hires rose at the slowest pace in over four years, fresh data has indicated, in signs redundancies and higher taxes are depressing wage growth. The lack of demand among recruiters and the larger number of job seekers in the UK economy has led to starting salary inflation slowing down to its lowest [...]
UK economy sees fastest services orders slowdown since Liz Truss August 5, 2025 Hopes of a quick recovery to the UK economy are fading as orders in the services sector fell at the fastest rate since Liz Truss’ mini-budget in late 2022, fresh data has suggested. S&P Global’s latest composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed a fall from a score of 52 in June to 51.5, which remains [...]
Trump removes jobs data official after employment report August 2, 2025 President Donald Trump has removed the head of the agency that produces monthly jobs figures for the US after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported. Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons [...]
UK sees ‘small burst’ in hiring in sign of growth July 24, 2025 The UK labour market saw a “small burst” in demand for jobs in June but postings remain below levels seen last year, fresh data has found, with brutal tax rises introduced in April by Chancellor Rachel Reeves weighing on employers. In new jobs figures published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast, the [...]
Rachel Reeves’ tax raid leads to thousands of job losses as wage growth cools July 17, 2025 Thousands of jobs were lost in June, official data has shown, putting the Bank of England under greater pressure to deal with the consequences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £20bn tax raid at its next interest rates decision in August. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “softening” in the labour market could force rate-setters to [...]
Bank of England looks for jobs data revisions ahead of rate decision July 15, 2025 The Bank of England will be looking out for any revisions to the number of people pushed out of work on Thursday when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes fresh jobs data, with an interest rate decision set to hinge on the extent of the deterioration in the labour market. Last month, the official [...]
Wes Streeting accused of issuing ‘misleading’ plan on NHS staffing July 3, 2025 Health secretary Wes Streeting has been accused of issuing “misleading information” on staffing practice at the NHS, with plans to end the use of agencies by 2030 a “short-sighted” move that could push up costs for the taxpayer. Streeting today unveiled Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS focussed on rolling out weight-loss drugs, reducing people’s [...]
Bailey watching labour market softening ‘very closely’ June 26, 2025 Andrew Bailey has said his Monetary Policy Committee are watching signals of a rapidly softening labour market “very closely” in the wake of several soft employment readings and stark warnings of a slowdown from the recruitment industry. The Governor of the Bank of England told the British Chambers of Commerce’s summit that sticky wage growth [...]