13 h. ago US unemployment claims fall to lowest level since September 2022

The U.S. job market appears stuck in a ‘low-hire, low-fire’ state that has left those out of work struggling to find a new job

Politics

52 h. ago Rate of business closures in the UK falls to lowest level since 2016

Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals around 280,000 businesses across the UK closed in 2024, down from 310,000 in 2023.

Politics

3 d. ago The Standard podcast: Broken business rate system set to hammer London's pubs, hotels and shops

Listen here on your chosen podcast platform.

Economics

4 d. ago Hangover from Reeves' dismal Budget leaves business confidence stuck at rock bottom

The poll for the Institute of Directors (IoD) also found companies' jobs plans fell sharply, while sales and investment expectations were at the lowest level since the pandemic.

Economics

6 d. ago Fury as London pubs, hotels, and shops hammered by business rates soaring by tens of thousands of pounds

Premier Inn expects its business rate bill to go up by between £40 million and £50 million a year

Economics

6 d. ago Major UK airport operator hits out at Rachel Reeves' Budget 'impacting hard

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a business rate increase in her recent Budget. It will see major airports across the country hit with huge increases in their rate bills.

Events

7 d. ago Small businesses say 'We're on the rack': Reeves claimed to help pubs, but many face huge rate rises as Amazon and supermarkets benefit

The Chancellor had promised to pay for a reduction in business rates for smaller firms by hiking taxes on larger properties to 'level the playing field between the high street and online giants'.

Economics

7 d. ago Holidaymakers set to be hit by higher air fares and tourist tax rules

Rachel Reeves has announced a business rate increase in her recent Budget. Heathrow, which already pays the highest rate in the country, is set to see its rate bill increase dramatically.

Society

9 d. ago Grim retail sales data fuels concerns about health of US economy

Consumer confidence drops to second-lowest level since pandemic as inflation lingers

Economics

2 w. ago Met Office pinpoints 41 UK areas with weather warnings as temperatures to hit

The forecaster warns of further disruptive conditions as the temperature is expected to fall to minus 12 and more snow will fall with chances of further school closures

Events

2 w. ago Iran's president says capital must move from Tehran because it is running out of water

The president has raised the idea of moving away from Tehran before, with rainfall in the capital this year at its lowest level for a century.

Politics

2 w. ago Kindle Paperwhite price drops to lowest ever level on Amazon, CamelCamelCamel confirms

The newest Kindle Paperwhite has fallen to its lowest recorded price, making it one of Amazon’s fastest-selling early Christmas tech deals.

Economics

2 w. ago Ninja Creami price drops to lowest ever level in Amazon Black Friday sale

The viral Ninja Creami Scoop and Swirl machine has dropped to its cheapest price yet, with Amazon launching a rare Black Friday saving on the UK’s most in-demand ice cream maker.

Economics

2 w. ago British Jews turn to Greens and Reform UK as support for main parties drops

Study finds new party divide as backing for Labour and Conservatives plunges from 84% in 2020 to 58% in 2025A new party divide is emerging among British Jews, research has found, with support rising fast for the Greens – buoyed up by younger and “anti-Zionist” Jews – while older Orthodox men turn to Reform UK as trust in the two main parties “collapses”.Support for Labour and the Conservatives among British Jews had fallen to 58% by July 2025 from nearly 84% in 2020, according to a report from the Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR), which said it was “the lowest level we’ve ever recorded by some distance”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago 'Dramatic decline': Scottish school satisfaction drops to lowest level in a decade

Satisfaction with the performance of Scottish schools has dropped to its lowest level in a decade

Events

2 w. ago Crypto market sheds more than $1tn in six weeks amid fears of tech bubble

Bitcoin price at lowest level since April while FTSE 100 falls as Google boss warns there is ‘irrationality’ in AI boomBusiness live – latest updatesMore than $1tn (£760bn) has been wiped off the value of the cryptocurrency market in the past six weeks amid fears of a tech bubble and fading expectations for a US rate cut next month.Tracking more than 18,500 coins, the value of the crypto market has fallen by a quarter since a high in early October, according to the data company CoinGecko. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Who could be behind the phantom briefing and the tax rise that wasn’t? Inspector Starmer is on the case | Marina Hyde

Chaos and ineptitude dog our poor PM. Perhaps the explanation lies (very) close to homeAt this rate the only businesses who will want to invest in Britain after the budget are heroin dealers. No 10 used to have a news grid, now it has an apology grid. Even so, why did Keir Starmer apologise for a sensationally self-destructive round of briefing against Wes Streeting if he didn’t do it? This is like me apologising for accidentally releasing sex offenders from prison. I suppose there is the occasional previous example in public life. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor apologised for his association with Jeffrey Epstein and gave a woman he’d never met a reported £12m. Perhaps that provides the prime minister with the warming cover of precedent.If you’re just joining us, this is a week in which the government finally achieved the chaos spiral of several recent Conservative administrations. We can now officially say: same car, different clowns. We are less than two weeks out from the budget, wit...

Politics

3 w. ago UK exports to US hit lowest level since January 2022 as tariffs bite – business live

New economic data shows fall in UK exports to the US, as Britain’s economy shrinks in SeptemberChancellor Rachel Reeves is harking back to the happier days of stronger growth in the first two quarters of this year.Responding to this morning’s GDP figures, Reeves says:“We had the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of the year, but there’s more to do to build an economy that works for working people.At my Budget later this month, I will take the fair decisions to build a strong economy that helps us to continue to cut waiting lists, cut the national debt and cut the cost of living.” Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago UK GDP: Grim figures ‘pave way’ for interest rate cut just days before Christmas

“Suddenly the chances of an interest rate cut before Christmas are on a par with the likelihood of mince pies and syrupy TV ads” – James Bentley, Financial Markets Online

Politics

3 w. ago Jobless rate hits highest since Covid in blow to Reeves before Budget

The ONS said the unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to September

Events