Thanks for joining me. We begin the week with a look at the manufacturing sector, where thousands of roles are being left unfilled because of Britain’s worklessness crisis.
Make UK, which represents the sector, estimated that there are 64,000 factory job vacancies in Britain, costing the sector £6bn in lost production.
It comes amid a surge in economic inactivity since the pandemic, with a record number of people neither in work or looking for a job.
5 things to start your day
1) Scotland a ‘no-go’ zone for investors under SNP rent controls | Fears grow over Labour rolling out a similar policy in England and Wales
2) Labour’s EU defence pact threatens Britain’s sovereignty, warns Shapps | Party risks ceding control of key defence decisions and sowing division within Nato
3) Scrapping two-child benefit cap would cost £3.4bn, says IFS | Nigel Farage supports abolishing policy to encourage Britons to have more children
4) British drivers paying highest diesel prices in Europe | Motorists getting ‘extremely poor deal’ as supermarkets fail to pass on savings
5) How Milei’s Argentina is riding the net zero copper boom | President capitalises on Andes treasure trove as mining giants scramble for supplies
What happened overnight
Asian share markets were in the red as mixed Chinese economic news underlined the bumpy recovery in the world’s second largest economy, while political uncertainty in Europe soured risk appetites and kept the euro on the defensive.
Chinese blue chips were off 0.2pc after retail sales topped forecasts by rising 3.7pc in May, but industrial output and fixed-asset investment both underwhelmed.
Other data showed home prices fell at the fastest pace in a decade in May, highlighting the continued strains in the property sector.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) kept its one-year rate unchanged, dashing some speculation of a cut following surprisingly soft bank lending data.
That made for cautious trading, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2pc.
Japan’s Nikkei slipped 1.9pc, with investors now facing a six-week wait to hear details of the Bank of Japan’s next tightening steps.
