Closing summary
Time for a quick recap....
UK wages have fallen at the fastest rate in at least 20 years, once inflation is taken into account, as the cost of living squeeze tightens.
The fall in real incomes came as Britain’s jobless rate nudged up in the last quarter, despite record vacancies at firms and another rise in payrolls.
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute, says the next year will be tough:
“The cost of living crisis is hitting hard with real regular wages falling more sharply this month than in any month this century.
We face a year of pain. The Chancellor has increased the help on offer and needs to prepare to do more. We also need an urgent focus on getting our economy moving again so living standards can rise.
The data helped to knock the pound down, as did worries about a potential trade war with the EU over Northern Ireland and a push for a new Scottish independence vote.
MPs have heard that some airlines have deliberately made it hard for customers to reclaim compensation for flight disruption.
Unions said the surge in delays and cancellations was partly the fault of airlines who aggressively pushed for redundencies, or ‘fire and rehire’ policies early in the pandemic.
The industry insists it is doing all it can to make the summer holiday season go more smoothly.
The pressure on motorists intensified, as petrol and diesel prices hit new records.
While the stock markets remain edgy, as investors brace for a sharp increase in US interest rates tomorrow.
Here’s the rest of today’s main stories:
Pressure grows to extend UK steel import quotas
The clock is ticking for the UK government to extend safeguards protecting Britain’s steel sector.
My colleague Jasper Jolly explains:
The government is facing pressure from the UK steel industry and Labour to extend metal import limits brought in after Brexit, after a warning that a flood of products could cost British producers £150m in lost sales.
The international trade minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, must decide by 30 June whether to keep “steel safeguards” set out last year or remove the import limits on five categories of products, which include tin mill products, steel quarto plates and wire rod.
High global steel prices have helped the industry in recent months after years of turmoil, but British steelmakers say the UK removing limits before the EU would disadvantage them compared with European rivals, who already benefit from relatively lower energy costs.
The protectionist 25% tariffs on imports above a set quota were first imposed by the EU in 2018, when the UK was still a member, and were designed to protect domestic industries from a glut of steel products diverted from the US after Donald Trump imposed tariffs on non-US steel.
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