First-time buyers turn from rural areas to Britain’s regional cities

With the rise of home working and surging house prices in many urban areas, one might have assumed that British cities had lost some of their appeal to homebuyers over the past decade, but it turns out the opposite is the case.An analysis of the first five months of this year shows the number of would-be first-time buyers in Great Britain looking to move to cities is up by 16% on average compared with the same period in 2015.The location to record the most significant jump in first-time buyer inquiries over that period is Dundee, Scotland’s fourth-largest city and, it is said, its sunniest.Some will be surprised to learn that homebuyers’ love affair with cities has intensified, bearing in mind that the pandemic apparently prompted many to think about a new life on the coast or in the countryside.The data was crunched by the property website Rightmove, which looked at Great Britain’s 50 largest cities, excluding London, and 50 of the most popular coastal areas

Crumbs! Biscuit museum’s Jaffa Cake display reignites old debate

It could be described as a storm in a teacup but the humble Jaffa Cake is once again at the centre of controversy after McVitie’s asked a biscuit museum to pull the snack from a display.The manufacturer took issue with the orangey treat being showcased in a museum devoted to biscuits because, for VAT purposes anyway, it is officially a cake. This fact was settled long ago in a legal battle with the taxman.The David and Goliath-style row – which some suggested had been orchestrated by McVitie’s to boost sales – has reignited the debate.Days after the biscuit museum in Bermondsey, south London, unveiled the display, McVitie’s sent it a cease-and-desist-style letter requesting “the immediate removal of Jaffa Cakes from your biscuit exhibit”

US adds 147,000 jobs in June, surpassing expectations amid Trump trade war

The US economy added 147,000 jobs in June, a sign of continuing strength in the labor market amid Donald Trump’s trade war.The number of jobs added surpassed expectations, as economists largely anticipated a drop in openings. Instead, 3,000 more jobs were added in June compared with May, according to new job figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The unemployment rate actually decreased to 4.1%, down from 4

Reeves’s fearsome challenge: to balance backbenchers and bond markets

It was Bill Clinton’s political adviser James Carville, way back in the 1990s, who said that in another life he would like to “come back as the bond market” – in preference to a president or a pope – because “you can intimidate everybody”.Even Donald Trump, that most wilful of politicians, has been forced to retreat in the face of bond market moves in recent months, ditching the most extreme of his “reciprocal” tariffs after US Treasury yields jumped.And despite the traditional status of US Treasuries (government bonds) as a safe haven for global investors, it is still not clear how well financial markets will be able to swallow the $3.3tn increase in debt coming down the tracks if Trump’s “big beautiful bill” is passed.So when investors dumped gilts (UK government bonds) on Wednesday, as Rachel Reeves wept in the Commons, it was an abrupt reminder that Labour backbenchers were not the only audience the government must placate

Pound and UK bonds recovering after Starmer backs Reeves; US economy adds 147,000 jobs in June – business live

The bond market is looking calmer this morning, as traders welcome Keir Starmer’s endorsement of Rachel Reeves.The prices on UK government debt are rising in early trading, which pulls down the yield (or interest rate) on the bonds.The yield on UK 30-year bonds has dipped by 0.8% in early trading, to 5.361%

UK government bond markets rally after Starmer backs Reeves

UK government bonds have rallied after Keir Starmer backed Rachel Reeves to remain as chancellor for “a very long time” despite lingering investor concerns over a multibillion-pound hole in Britain’s public finances.The yield – in effect the interest rate – on 10-year British government bonds, also known as gilts, fell on Thursday morning to trade close to 4.5%, reversing much of the rise on Wednesday sparked by feverish speculation over Reeves’s future.The pound rose against other leading currencies, while a closely watched business survey showed that Britain’s dominant service sector recorded its fastest rate of growth in 10 months.Some of the gains were later pegged back after the release of stronger-than-anticipated US job market figures, which fuelled a rise in US government borrowing costs as investors bet the Federal Reserve may delay cutting interest rates