Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Good morning. Unemployment across the UK has hit a near five-year high, and wage growth has slowed.
The latest labour market data, just released this morning, shows that the UK jobless rate rose to 5.2% in the October-December quarter.
“The number of workers on payroll fell further in the final quarter of the year, reflecting weak hiring activity, although it is largely unchanged in the latest month. Over the same period the unemployment rate increased, with data showing that more people who were out of work are now actively looking for a job.
“The number of vacancies has remained broadly stable since the middle of last year. Alongside rising unemployment this means that the number of unemployed people per vacancy has increased, reaching a new post-pandemic high. Meanwhile, redundancies are also showing an upward trend.
7am GMT: UK labour force data
7am GMT: German inflation report
9.30am GMT: UK productivity data for Q4 2025
10am GMT: ZEW’s eurozone economic sentiment survey
1.30pm GMT: NY Empire State Manufacturing Index
Continue reading…Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsGood morning. Unemployment across the UK has hit a near five-year high, and wage growth has slowed.The latest labour market data, just released this morning, shows that the UK jobless rate rose to 5.2% in the October-December quarter.“The number of workers on payroll fell further in the final quarter of the year, reflecting weak hiring activity, although it is largely unchanged in the latest month. Over the same period the unemployment rate increased, with data showing that more people who were out of work are now actively looking for a job.“The number of vacancies has remained broadly stable since the middle of last year. Alongside rising unemployment this means that the number of unemployed people per vacancy has increased, reaching a new post-pandemic high. Meanwhile, redundancies are also showing an upward trend.7am GMT: UK labour force data7am GMT: German inflation report9.30am GMT: UK productivity data for Q4 202510am GMT: ZEW’s eurozone economic sentiment survey1.30pm GMT: NY Empire State Manufacturing Index Continue reading…
