The UK unemployment rate fell to its lowest in over 40 years in the three months to January, but pay growth slowed in an unpromising sign for the economy ahead of the Brexit move trigger.
The Office for National Statistics said its data showed the UK jobless rate fell to 4.7%, down from 4.8% last month, marking its lowest level since the summer of 1975, with economists having expected no change.
Meanwhile total pay growth slipped to 2.2% in the three months to January, the weakest since the three months to April last year.
Construction jobs risk ….
The UK construction industry could lose more than 175,000 EU workers – or 8% of the sector’s workforce – if the country does not retain access to the European single market after Brexit, according to a report.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ latest quarterly survey of the industry, conducted during the final three months of 2016, showed that 30% of construction professionals said hiring non-UK workers was important to the success of their business.
RICS said that without access to the single market key infrastructure and construction projects would be put at risk at a time when the sector was also facing other pressures, including the tax changes in the recent budget,
Glaxo boss's pay…
Incoming GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON:GSK) chief executive Emma Walmsley - the first woman to lead a top global drugmaker - will get a pay package worth a quarter less than her predecessor, following a company rethink on remuneration.
Walmsley, who takes over next month, will be paid a base salary of £1.003mln, or 10% less than outgoing CEO Andrew Witty.
She will also receive significantly lower pension contributions, as well as reduced bonus and long-term incentive opportunities, resulting in a total reduction in her package of about 25%, Glaxo’s annual report showed.
Lorry drivers 'self tip' ...
Lorry drivers have said discount food retailers Aldi and Lidl force them to do the jobs of warehouse staff as part of efforts to cut prices.
Drivers told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme that unloading deliveries is known as ‘self-tip’, and their union said the practice should stop as it's not safe.
But the discounters said drivers are trained and insured to do the work and some like to get back on the road quickly.
Night Tube strikes …
The first ever strikes on the Night Tube are to take place on two Saturday nights next month, according to Evening Standard.
Tube train drivers will walk out on the Saturday nights of April 8 and April 29.
More strikes are not ruled out if the bitter dispute about how the 24-hour operation – which began last August, almost a year late – is staffed.