Reeves concedes Government has ‘more to do' as unemployment at four-year high
The Chancellor insisted Labour had been 'creating more jobs' since entering office despite vacancies declining over the last quarter, with experts warning of a further 'cooling in the labour market'.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Belfast on Tuesday, Ms Reeves said the Government had returned stability to the economy but that there was 'absolutely' more progress to be made.
'There is more to do, but in the first year, we've managed to return stability to the economy, we're growing the economy and reducing costs, particularly mortgage costs for hard-pressed families,' she said.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier released figures showing the rate of UK unemployment struck 4.7% in the three months to June.
It was the same as the previous three-month period, which had been the highest level since June 2021.
Meanwhile, average earnings growth, excluding bonuses, remained at 5% for the period to June.
UK vacancies tumbled by 44,000 over the three months to July to 718,000 – the lowest number of job openings since April 2021.
Ms Reeves acknowledged there had been a decline in the quarter but said there was 'really positive news' in the figures, with some 384,000 more jobs in the economy than there were just over a year ago.
'The most important figure today is that there are 384,000 more people in work than when I became Chancellor,' she said.
'Everybody who can work should be in work, and as a government, we're committed to helping more people back to work. There are huge opportunities in our economy.'
The signs of further pressure in the labour market alongside recent weak economic growth pose a challenge for the Government and policymakers at the Bank of England.
Last week, the Bank of England indicated that unemployment was likely to rise further later this year as it chose to cut interest rates again to 4%.
The latest labour market statistics from the ONS were in line with predictions from economists.
The data showed that the number of payrolled employees fell by 66,000 for the quarter to June, with an estimated 26,000 drop between May and June.
It came as figures also revealed that recent weakness in the UK hiring market continued further, with vacancies dropping to a four-year low.
Vacancy numbers fell 5.8% over the quarter to July, with a particularly sharp drop in the arts, entertainment and recreation sectors.
Meanwhile, wage growth remained at 5% for the three months to June, but was only 1.5% once inflation is taken into account, thanks to an uptick in the cost of living in recent months.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: 'Taken together, these latest figures point to a continued cooling of the labour market.
'The number of employees on payroll has now fallen in 10 of the last 12 months, with these falls concentrated in hospitality and retail.
'Job vacancies, likewise, have continued to fall, also driven by fewer opportunities in these industries.'
James Smith, economist at ING, said: 'The UK jobs market is undoubtedly cooling, though a more modest fall in payroll employment suggests that the worst may be behind us, following big tax and living wage hikes.
'Better news on wage growth suggests the Bank can still afford to cut rates in November, though after last week's hawkish meeting, this call has become less clear-cut.'
The figures come amid warnings from economists that the Chancellor will have to hike taxes in the autumn budget to plug a black hole of up to £51 billion in the public finances.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) earlier this month said weaker-than-expected recent economic activity, U-turns on welfare cuts and forecast-beating borrowing mean Ms Reeves is on track to miss one of her fiscal rules by £41.2 billion in 2029-30.
Including the need to rebuild the fiscal buffer of just under £10 billion that has been wiped out, she will have to find more than £51 billion, according to the leading think tank.
Ms Reeves has refused to rule out tax rises at the budget since Labour MPs forced ministers to make concessions on welfare reforms, which the Government had hoped would save up to £5 billion a year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Copenhagen to repay thousands of foreign couples after illegal fees for weddings
Authorities in Copenhagen could face a bill of tens of millions of krone after it emerged that the city had illegally charged wedding fees to about 12,000 couples over seven years. Most of those who were charged during the period are understood to have been from outside Denmark and did not have permanent residence in the country. Copenhagen municipality could be forced to repay up to 23m krone (£2.7m). A fee of up to 4,500 krone was charged for weddings at the city hall at particular times and for weddings at designated outdoor locations. But under Danish law, the municipality is only allowed to charge the fee if the couple has asked to be married outside the city hall. Wedding tourism represents big business for the city: last year, about 5,000 international couples were married in Copenhagen, spending as much as 120m krone, according to the Danish chamber of commerce. Lars Ramme Nielsen, a director at the chamber of commerce, said the situation was 'unfortunate'. 'For many reasons, we have been very pleased that so many foreign couples choose Copenhagen as the place to seal their love,' he said. 'At the same time, we are not blind to the significant revenue these guests bring with them – everything from hotels, restaurants and the airport, to local photographers, florists and many more. We very much hope a solution can be found.' Some politicians have called for the law to be changed so that the municipality is legally permitted to charge all non-Danish couples to get married. Niels Peder Ravn, a Conservative member of Copenhagen's culture and leisure committee, said that although he was 'delighted' the Danish capital had become such a popular international wedding destination, he was outraged that city taxpayers would be left to foot the bill. 'I call it the wedding scandal, as it means Copenhagen taxpayers must now repay 23m krone to approximately 12,000 foreign couples,' he said. 'These are funds we will have to find within the culture and leisure committee's budget, which will result in fewer sports activities and cultural offerings for Copenhagen's citizens.' Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion He added: 'I am also deeply concerned about the countless hours of work the administration will need to spend locating these many couples, who, as they do not live in Denmark, may not be so easy to track down.' Copenhagen's mayor for culture and leisure, Mia Nyegaard, said the illegal practice, which had continued since 2018 until it was discovered earlier this year, was 'really unfortunate and regrettable'. She added: 'How Copenhagen has at the same time been able to market itself as a wedding destination, I simply do not know. I have no answer to that. But I have been informed that the practice started in 2018 and was discovered when the administration, in the spring of 2025, reviewed the financial and legal basis for the wedding office due to the increasing demand for weddings. At that point, the administration became aware of the incorrect practice and stopped it completely.' No longer being able to charge the fees, she said, 'presents a financial challenge' that was expected to grow as demand for weddings increased. She added: 'Therefore, the culture and leisure committee must now discuss how it should be handled. At the same time, the culture and leisure administration is in the process of planning the work for the repayments in collaboration with the city of Copenhagen's internal audit unit. It is too early to say anything concrete about how this task will be carried out.' The Danish ministry of social affairs and housing has been contacted for comment.
Times
27 minutes ago
- Times
A few ‘tweaks' would make it easier to lend to small businesses
As the government focuses on backing key sectors it believes can kickstart Britain's sluggish economy, The Times is running a five-day series exploring what business leaders in these industries need if they are to deliver the growth ministers are searching for. Here, entrepreneurs in the financial and professional services sector explain why attitudes towards external capital and regulation must change Funding is a perennial problem for ambitious entrepreneurs. Most can only take their idea so far, and only grow so fast, without the leverage provided by external capital. Banks and investors in the UK are often criticised for their perceived lack of risk appetite, generally preferring to back larger, more established businesses or residential mortgages. Ison Travel, which organises travel, accommodation and events for corporate customers, made two acquisitions last year that doubled its annual revenue. Helen Cannon, founder and chief executive, does not think she would have been able to strike either of those deals had Ison not had some profits to reinvest. 'It's all been self-funded,' she says. 'When we were looking at the acquisitions last year, we did consider [outside investment] and spoke to a few different companies, but it isn't easy. It's a long process and there's an awful lot of red tape and so many hoops to jump through.' While there's a debate over whether it's supply or demand of finance that's to blame, Cannon's views are increasingly common among British businesses, with the long-running SME Finance Monitor consistently showing a growing proportion of companies preferring to grow under their own steam rather than seek external finance. That has prompted concerns about the implications for growth and productivity; less external finance usually means slower growth and less investment. Richard Davies, as chief executive of Allica, a specialist challenger bank , knows more than most about lending money to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). He says major high street banks have pulled back from the SME market in recent years. 'Their business model is either for millions of consumers and micro businesses, or for 20,000 large corporate businesses, but neither of those models works for the bit in between,' he explained. • Lending gap for small businesses 'is hurting UK's growth' Lending to British SMEs is now £90 billion lower than it would have been had it followed levels recorded between 1997 and 2004, research by Allica has found. Allica, and some of its peers, are trying to plug that gap. Allica has more than £3 billion in loans out at the moment, almost entirely to smaller companies. Last year, Allica was named Britain's fastest growing private company by the Sunday Times 100. It could be growing even faster, Davies says; he could increase lending by another £500 million this year if the government and regulators made some 'tweaks' to capital requirement rules. As a challenger, Allica lends only in the UK, but that means it must hold a higher percentage of liquid capital on hand than the big banks which are perceived as being safer because they operate in many different countries. 'I'm not sure if you're a small bank that [the regulator] should be saying 'go and lend in lots of countries because that's going to be safer',' he says. 'It makes no sense to me. If that was changed, I could lend an extra £400 million or £500 million to SMEs this year.' Crowdfunding platforms are also trying to fill the financing gaps left by mainstream banks, but Bruce Davis, a fintech entrepreneur and chairman of the UK Crowdfunding Association, believes they are being held back by too much bureaucracy. To get involved with crowdfunding, people need to pass an 'appropriateness test' introduced by regulators, which is failed by close to half of those who apply. It has had a dramatic impact on the market. 'What we've seen is a big drop-off in terms of people wanting to go through that process, which we've argued is overkill,' Davis says. 'The government wants more innovation and more growth, so the [Financial Conduct Authority] is looking again at how it defines high-risk investment. It wouldn't need a lot of changes to make [partaking in crowdfunding] simpler without removing the safeguards.' There is a 'lighter touch regulatory regime' for crowdfunding in Europe, where there are hundreds of platforms and a 'bigger pool of investors', Davis says. His concern is that UK businesses will inevitably be competing with European peers which have access to more investment. 'I just think we are constraining UK businesses. If you're a UK business in artificial intelligence, for example, and you're competing with a French AI business and you're finding it harder to raise capital, you're going to lose.' That is not what the government says it wants. As part of the industrial strategy it published this summer, the government has promised to support small, fast-growing businesses which have the capacity to punch above their weight in helping to deliver growth. Ultimately, the government wants its industrial strategy to help push today's ambitious SMEs to the next level. Labour has promised to 'slash red tape' to drive growth but onerous paperwork and box-ticking is still bemoaned by many bosses, including Aminash Patel, chief executive of Penta Consulting. Penta, which finds skilled workers for technology companies including Microsoft and IBM, employs and contracts 800 or so people in 12 offices across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. 'Because our business is across many different geographies, the mobility of our people can be quite difficult,' Patel says. 'We could have one of our consultants who is working in the UK for six months but then they may have to go off to mainland Europe for a year and then maybe go over to the US. Some of the red tape around cross-border movement of our employees causes a lot of delays for us.' Those delays, he thinks, are only getting worse. 'It's taking longer to get clearance and visas and work permits — it's not flowing as quickly as it used to. Ten or fifteen years ago you could deploy people [to other countries] much faster and more easily with less paperwork and justification.' Davies, of Allica, shares Patel's frustrations about the speed of decision-making and receiving feedback from regulators and officials. Back in 2013, the government launched a start-up unit to help new banks go through the authorisation process, which Davies says has been a 'big success'. The problem is that once a bank has established itself but is still growing quickly, such as Allica, 'there's nothing there' to help. 'We've been big advocates of a scale-up unit to ensure you've got high-speed and high-frequency interactions with regulators,' he says. 'Ironically, most fintechs want more interaction with regulators, not less. We want resolution [on issues] really quickly, we don't want to wait nine months, we want it resolved in a few weeks.' Cannon would also like support from regulators and the government to be easier to access, particularly in the early days 'which can be really lonely'. She points to research and development tax credits as an example. 'We've never used any and I don't know how to access them or whether we even qualify. It'd be great if there was someone there to help you.' • Debt load of businesses seeking finance is double pre-Covid level Patel, meanwhile, would have liked more support from the government when Penta made an international sales push. He did find advice, but from various trade bodies and organisations rather than official channels. 'It's not something the government has made available to us. There's been a lot of self-teaching,' he said. 'If you're a UK company and you want to go and sell your products or services in four or five other countries, where do you start? Some help around understanding the tax implications or the restrictions [of operating overseas] would make sense.' Davies says the UK's growth challenge must be tackled at its roots, by doing a better job of educating entrepreneurs that external finance is not a bad thing. That attitude towards debt is 'a UK problem' and not one really seen in other countries, particularly the US, he says. 'There's been a really big hang-up from the financial crisis and things like Royal Bank of Scotland's restructuring division screwing businesses,' he says. 'The statistics are shocking: the Bank of England found that four in five businesses would rather grow slower than borrow to grow faster. Banks and the government have got to get businesses feeling confident to borrow to invest again.' 'It's a real grind trying to raise single-digit millions because the pool of available capital is so much smaller,' explains one City stockbroker, whose job it is to help companies — typically on the smaller side — drum up fresh investment. It is a common gripe among growing businesses, how difficult it can be to attract the investment they need for the next stage of growth. The feeling in the City is that there are a few reasons for this, including what one senior dealmaker describes as a 'hangover from Woodford'. That is a reference to Neil Woodford, the one-time star fund manager whose Woodford Equity Income Fund collapsed in 2019 after putting too much money into smaller, illiquid businesses. Scarred by that scandal, anecdotal evidence from bankers suggests that fund managers have moved 'up the food chain' and are backing fewer small companies as a result. Simon French, chief economist and head of research at Panmure Liberum, the stockbroker, agreed that Woodford has affected the investment industry but believes there are other 'structural challenges' that are limiting how much funding is being directed at the smaller end of the market. 'Wealth managers and pension funds have also consolidated so you've got much larger asset managers out there and their propensity to invest in a small company is rather limited,' he says. 'If you're running billions of pounds [of savers' money], buying a 20 per cent stake in a £20 million company is only £4 million. Just because of the economics, you're not going to do it.' The de-equitisation of the London stock market also means there is just less money earmarked for equities. At the peak in 1990, pension funds had 40 per cent of their assets invested in UK stocks, but that has fallen to only 3 per cent. That trend partly reflects defined benefit pension schemes moving money out of stocks and into lower-risk government bonds as more of their members hit retirement. French thinks he has a solution: UK pension funds with more of their assets invested in UK equities should receive greater tax relief than those which do very little over here. 'I think we should say [to pension funds] that they can invest wherever they want, but if they only want to buy an S&P 500 tracker, they're not going to get the same scale of tax relief as if they're a pension scheme investing 90 per cent in the US but 10 per cent in the UK [stock market]. A pound invested in IQE, a semiconductor manufacturer in South Wales, has a different economic impact to a pound in Nvidia.' On Friday: Advanced manufacturers on the difference between political rhetoric and the real-world barriers to growing in the UK
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Premier League betting offers 2025/2026 kickoff: Free bets, price boosts and more
The new Premier League season begins this weekend, with England's topmost famous clubs once again vying for the title over the next nine months. The top flight returns after a three-month absence with 20 of the country's best sides ready to go for the new campaign, with champions Liverpool looking to retain the title and newly promoted sides Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland hoping to survive a gruelling campaign. The Premier League remains one of the largest betting markets of any sport in the world and ahead of the season starting betting sites have produced various Premier League betting offers for the first matches of 2025/26. And to help readers find the best deals, we've produced an article detailing the best Premier League betting offers, including relevant betting sign up offers, free bet offers and Premier League odds. William Hill are offering a £1 free bet for customers that place an outright EPL winner bet worth £10 or more before the opening match of the season kicks off at 8pm August 15. New customers can sign up for William Hill using our link below before opting in on the promotion. Existing customers can head straight to the promotions page to opt-in. Users can then head to the football betting site place a £10 outright bet or £5 each-way bet for a team to win the Premier League outright with odds of evens or greater. Once your bet is confirmed, you'll then qualify to receive £1 in free bets every time your selected side wins a Premier League game in August or September. William Hill: £5 Free Acca Bet William Hill are running a Premier League free bets offer for bettors that place an acca bet on the Premier League, EFL or Scottish Premiership. All customers have to do is opt-in via the promotions page on William Hill before placing a fourfold acca on Premier League, EFL or Scottish Premiership markets with odds of evens or greater before the end of 17 August. Once your qualifying wager has settled, you'll receive a free bet to use on the sportsbook. Free bets are active for up to seven days. Betfred customers that bet £10 on the Premier League outright goalscorer market will earn a £1 free bet for every time their selected player has a shot on target in August. To qualify, customers must opt-in on the promotion and place a £10 or £5 each-way wager on the top goalscorer outright market before 12pm on 15 August. After that, every time your selected player has a shot on target in August, your account will be credited with a £1 free bet. Free bets are available to use on football and are active for five days after being credited. BoyleSports are offering new customers a mobile exclusive free bet offer for betting on the Premier League. New customers can click the link below to claim £20 in free bets by signing up, depositing and betting £10 on any sports market with odds of evens or greater. Once your qualifying wager has settled, you'll receive £20 in free bets. BoyleSports will also pay out on EPL outright winner bets for users if their selected team has gone 12 points clear of second place at the end of matchday. LiveScore Bet are offering bettors payouts on a number of Premier League goalscorer markets if the goal is disallowed by VAR. 47 goals were disallowed by VAR in the Premier League in the 2024/25 season, but this season LiveScore Bet will honour those goals for goalscorer bets. Pre-match bets made on single, multi or bet builder on Premier League matches will be honoured for the following markets: First Goalscorer, Anytime Goalscorer and Player to score at least 2/3/4 goals, even if the goal is disallowed by VAR. JeffBet are offering new and existing customers the chance to secure cashback on losing Premier League bets between 16 August and 22 August. Customers who place a deposit of £10 or more using the JeffBet promo code EPLC and place real money bets on the Premier League will qualify to receive 10 per cent of deposit losses back up to £500 once qualifying wagers are settled. With QuinnBet, bettors can get money back on losing Premier League bet builders if the game finishes goalless. Wager £10 or more on a bet builder that has combined odds of evens or greater. If the bet builder loses and the final score is 0-0, QuinnBet will refund the stake as a free bet. The maximum refund is £10 and free bets must be used within seven days at minimum odds of 1/4 or greater. Champions Liverpool open the season with a Friday night match against Bournemouth at Anfield, with the Reds deserving favourites having lost just once at home in 2024/25. Arne Slot's men are also the leading contenders in the Premier League winner odds to retain their crown. On Saturday, the early action sees two of the top sides in the betting in the Premier League top four odds face off as Newcastle take on Aston Villa at Villa Park. Considering the Villans won 4-1 in this fixture in April, we could be in for a surprise on opening weekend, as we had in 2023 when Newcastle ran out 5-1 winners at home. At 3pm, Brighton are favourites to beat Fulham, while Tottenham are heavy favourites to down newly-promoted Burnley and fellow promoted side Sunderland are home underdogs to beat West Ham on their return to the top flight. Both promoted sides are the top candidates in the Premier League relegation odds for a return to the Championship. Unsurprisingly, Manchester City are odds-on to beat Wolves in the late kick-off. City have beaten Wolves on nine out of the last 10 occasions those sides have met, with that lone Wolves win coming at the Molineux in 2023. Sunday begins with Chelsea hosting Crystal Palace, with the Club World Cup winners favourites. However, Palace were good value in their Community Shield win last week, and with Blues having a delayed pre-season, the result could be a surprise one at the Bridge. Nottingham Forest are priced at 11/10 to beat Brentford, with the new-look Bees seen as outsiders to win on opening weekend – and problems with transfers could show early for Keith Andrews' side. Leeds United are the last of the promoted sides to begin their season, with odds of 6/4 for them to win against Everton (17/10) at Elland Road, with David Moyes now putting the finishing touches on a revamped Toffees squad. Sunday afternoon sees perhaps the biggest game of the weekend, with Ruben Amorim's new-look Manchester United offered at 13/5 to beat Arsenal at Old Trafford, with the Gunners odds-on for a rare away win in Manchester. Though Arsenal have won there just twice in the last decade or so, it feels like Amorim won't have had enough time to bleed in his new signings before the match against Mikel Arteta's title-chasing side. When having a bet, it's vital to practice responsible gambling. When using gambling sites be aware that sports betting can be addictive. Please take steps to remain in control of your time and budget. The same applies whether you're using horse racing betting sites, new betting sites, slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, betting apps, or any other gambling medium. Even the most knowledgeable punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses. It's particularly important not to get carried away by any free bets or casino offers you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on betting sites and, but must be approached with caution. You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs. You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having:
