Business news live: UK unemployment at four-year high with firms ‘feeling the heat from raft of cost-pressures’
Retail growth is ‘barely touches the sides’ due to increased costs
Growth in the retail sector is “barely touching the sides” when it comes to costs, bosses have warned
July retail sales were up 2.5 per cent on a year ago but they were not close to covering the the last budget’s £7 billion in new costs on the sector.
The uptick in the UK’s total retail sales was against growth of 0.5 per cent last July and the 12-month average growth of 1.9 per cent, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG data.
Food sales increased by 3.9 per cent on last July due to warm weather and a packed sporting schedule, although rising food inflation – now at 4 per cent, according to latest BRC figures – meant increased spending was more a result of higher prices than improved demand.
Karl Matchett12 August 2025 08:15
Jobs vacancies fall as unemployment sticks at 4.7%
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 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 highest level since June 2021.
Meanwhile, average earnings growth, excluding bonuses, remained at 5% for the period to June.
It came as UK job vacancies tumbled by 44,000 over the three months to July to 718,000 – the lowest number of job openings since April 2021.
Karl Matchett12 August 2025 08:09
