- The UK unemployment rate rose to 4.7 per cent in the three months to May, reaching its highest level in four years, while average earnings growth slowed to 5 per cent.
- A Home Office minister expressed disappointment over the latest unemployment figures, attributing the situation to 'fourteen years of totally stagnant growth'.
- Labour's Jess Phillips agreed that the economy does not feel like it is performing well and acknowledged it would take time for people to feel less financially strained.
- The Office for National Statistics indicated a continued weakening of the labour market, noting a decline in employee payrolls and a three-year continuous fall in job vacancies.
- Firms are facing increased pressure due to significant rises in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage, alongside heightened global trade tensions.
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