Good morning.
Unemployment in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in almost 50 years as more Britons left the workforce.
The latest ONS figures showed 3.6% of adults were out of work and looking for work in the three months to the end of July, down from 3.8% in the previous quarter.
It emerged as more people classified themselves as economically inactive or stopped looking for work. The increase in long-term illnesses and changes in education saw 194,000 people drop out of the workforce.
The data also showed that real wages fell to their lowest level in nearly two decades as inflation continued to outpace wage increases.
5 things to start the day
1) Trains to run overnight as mourners travel to London: Plans for extra rail services have been finalized as thousands are expected to flock to the capital for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
2) UK teeters on edge of recession after ‘weak’ recovery: GDP grew just 0.2% in July, official data reveals, below economists’ expectations
3) Covid, China lockdowns help push 50 million people into slavery: 10 million more trapped in forced labor over past five years, UN agency warns
4) Apple to let iPhone users delete and edit text messages: The tech giant updates its iPhone iOS to allow users to edit a message for 15 minutes
5) German recession looms as Putin ‘wreaks havoc’ on economy: Eurozone’s biggest economy expected to take two years to fully recover from inflationary shock
What happened during the night
Asian stocks rose on Tuesday as traders in Korea returned from vacation hoping to catch up with a global rebound, while other markets were flat on US inflation data that they will provide crucial guidance for the outlook for interest rates.
Wall Street indices posted a fourth consecutive session of overnight gains, while the US dollar retreated further from record highs, partly on hopes that the price data, due at 12.30pm GMT , may offer another sign that inflation has peaked.
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, led by a 2 percent jump for South Korea’s Kospi. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.3%.
It arrives today
Company: Petra Diamonds (annual results), Haworth Group, JTC, Trustpilot (interim), Ocado Group (business statement)
Economy: inflation (US, Germany), unemployment rate (UK), change in number of claimants (UK), average income (UK), economic sentiment (EU), monthly budget status (US)