UK payrolls down by 178,000 over last year; Bundesbank chief defends central bank independence after Trump’s attacks on Powell – as it happened

Today’s jobs report shows that there has been a steady drop in the number of payrolled employees in the UK this year.Company payrolls peaked in July 2024, the month of the general election, at 30.451m.But they have fallen in most months since; by last month, payrolls had dropped to an estimated 30.265m

Southern Water nearly doubles CEO pay to £1.4m despite bonus ban

Southern Water has nearly doubled its chief executive’s annual pay package to £1.4m despite financial difficulties and a government ban on it awarding bonuses.Lawrence Gosden was awarded £691,000 under a “two-year long-term incentive plan” (LTIP), on top of fixed pay of £687,000 in its last financial year, according to the company’s annual report published this week.In the previous financial year he was awarded total pay of £764,000 including a bonus of £184,000.Water companies have been under intense scrutiny in recent years amid outrage over sewage leaks into Britain’s rivers and seas

Jaguar Land Rover to axe 500 UK management jobs as Trump tariffs fallout dents sales

Jaguar Land Rover has said it will axe up to 500 management jobs in the UK after reporting a plunge in sales linked to Donald Trump’s tariffs.The British luxury carmaker said about 1.5% of its staff in the UK would be affected by the cuts as part of a voluntary redundancy round for managers. JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, employs 33,000 people in the UK.The car manufacturer reported a 15

London-Berlin trains on the drawing board for UK-German rail taskforce

Plans for possible direct trains from London to Berlin will be drawn up by a joint UK-German taskforce, reigniting hopes for better rail connections across Europe.The partnership, announced as part of the bilateral treaty to be signed by the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and his German counterpart, Friedrich Merz, could eventually lead to direct rail services between the two countries after previous plans for London-Frankfurt trains hit the buffers.The Department for Transport described the agreement as a “significant step forward”, with direct trains the most eye-catching part of a commitment to collaborate in enhancing sustainable transport links and mobility.Germany has also agreed to allow some arriving UK airline passengers to use passport e-gates at its airports by the end of August, the Cabinet Office said.Since Brexit, UK travellers have needed to queue to have their passports manually stamped, rather than use automated gates, at EU airports

UK unemployment rises and wage growth slows as jobs market ‘weakens’

Unemployment climbed and wage growth slowed in the three months to May, according to official figures that will pressure the Bank of England to cut interest rates next month.Data from the Office for National Statistics, released on Thursday, showed that Britain’s official unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, up 0.1% from April to reach the highest level since June 2021.Pay growth slipped from 5

Frasers Group sales fall amid ‘challenging’ luxury market and retreat from gaming

A “challenging” luxury market and retreat from gaming have prompted a fall in sales and profits at Mike Ashley’s Frasers.The group, which is majority owned by the billionaire former Newcastle United owner, said sales fell by 7.4% to £4.7bn and pre-tax profits slid by 24% to £379.5m as it closed some of its House of Fraser department stores and Game video game shops