{"id":272165,"date":"2025-07-18T13:46:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T13:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/272165\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T13:46:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T13:46:14","slug":"uk-unemployment-rate-rises-brits-to-use-german-e-gates-chery-to-launch-tiggo-7-car-dealer-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/272165\/","title":{"rendered":"UK unemployment rate rises; Brits to use German e-Gates; Chery to launch Tiggo 7 \u2013 Car Dealer Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK unemployment jumps to highest since 2021 as wage growth slows<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s jobless rate has struck its highest level for four years as workers also faced another slowdown in wage growth, official figures have shown.<\/p>\n

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of UK unemployment increased to 4.7% in the three months to May, from 4.6% in three months to April. It said this marked the highest level since June 2021.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, average earnings growth, excluding bonuses, slowed to 5% in the period to May to its lowest level for almost three years.<\/p>\n

\"Advert\"\/<\/a>
\nFrasers \u2018working hard\u2019 to offset cost hit as sales improve<\/p>\n

High street retail giant Frasers said it was working hard to offset soaring wage costs, but had seen \u2018more encouraging\u2019 trading after a challenging end to 2024.<\/p>\n

The Sports Direct owner reported a 2.8% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to \u00a3560.2m for the year to April 27, despite a 7.4% drop in revenues to \u00a34.9bn. Second-half profits jumped 8.3% as it recovered from a tough end to 2024 due to weaker consumer confidence in the run up to, and following, the autumn budget.<\/p>\n

Frasers \u2013 majority-owned by retail tycoon Mike Ashley \u2013 had cut its profit outlook in December after the tougher trading, but it said conditions had since improved.<\/p>\n

\"Advert\"\/
\n<\/a>
\nChery\u2019s Tiggo 7 confirmed for UK arrival<\/p>\n

Chery has announced that it will be bringing its Tiggo 7 crossover to the UK, with prices starting at \u00a324,995.<\/p>\n

The Tiggo 7 joins the larger seven-seater Tiggo 8 in the firm\u2019s range, aiming to offer the same level of value for money thanks to a wide range of standard features. Highlights on the five-seater include dual-zone air conditioning, adaptive cruise control and a six-speaker Sony audio system. All models also benefit from two 12.3-inch displays and a 540-degree parking camera.<\/p>\n

Two powertrain options will be also be available. The first uses a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 144bhp and 275Nm, while a plug-in hybrid adds in a large electric battery to deliver up to 56 miles of electric-only range.<\/p>\n

Stock prices in London closed mostly higher on Thursday, with markets ultimately reassured by US President Donald Trump stating that he did not currently intend to fire Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.<\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 index closed up 46.09 points, 0.5%, at 8,972.64. The FTSE 250 ended up 164.57 points, 0.8%, at 21,766.43, and the AIM All-Share closed down 3.17 points, 0.4%, at 768.93.<\/p>\n

The pound was quoted lower at 1.3414 US dollars at the time of the London equities close on Thursday, compared with 1.3473 dollars on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Advert\"\/
\n<\/a>
\nDiane Abbott: Labour \u2018wants me out\u2019 after second suspension<\/p>\n

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party for a second time after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised.<\/p>\n

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said the Labour leadership \u2018wants me out\u2019 and that her comments in a BBC interview released this week were \u2018factually correct\u2019.<\/p>\n

It comes a day after Sir Keir Starmer stripped the whip from four Labour MPs for persistent breaches of discipline.<\/p>\n



\nGermany to allow UK passport holders to use e-gates<\/p>\n

Germany has agreed to allow some arriving UK airline passengers to use passport e-gates at its airports by the end of August, the Cabinet Office has announced.<\/p>\n

This will initially be available for frequent travellers. Access for all UK nationals will be possible once Germany has completed updates to its entry systems as it introduces the EU\u2019s long-delayed Entry\/Exit System (EES).<\/p>\n

The deal forms part of a bilateral treaty signed by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and German chancellor Friedrich Merz on the latter\u2019s first official visit to the UK.<\/p>\n

Vertu boss Robert Forrester has praised the new \u00a3650m Electric Car Grant as a timely and necessary move to boost EV uptake among private buyers. However, delays in discount implementation and concerns over used EV market impact prompt calls for cautious monitoring and further supportive measures.<\/p>\n

Stellantis has authorised over 150 Peugeot dealers to help replace faulty airbags in 120,000 recalled Citroen and DS vehicles. Citroen workshops face overwhelming demand, with 99,000 cars still awaiting repair. The recall follows a fatal airbag incident and urgent \u2018stop drive\u2019 warnings issued in June.<\/p>\n

JLR plans to cut up to 500 UK management jobs amid falling sales and a major cost-cutting effort. The move follows a 15.1% drop in retail sales and a shift away from older Jaguar models ahead of upcoming electric vehicle launches.<\/p>\n

Polestar has expanded its UK presence with new sites in Norwich and Bury St Edmunds, operated by Holden Group. The Norwich site offers test drives and tailored buying experiences, while Bury will become a Polestar Pre-Owned hub, supporting growing EV demand in East Anglia.<\/p>\n

Today will be mostly cloudy in the west with rain, while the east sees scattered, potentially thundery afternoon showers, reports BBC Weather. It\u2019ll be humid in most parts with highs of 27 degrees in the south and east.<\/p>\n

Tonight begins largely dry, but rain\u2014some heavy and thundery\u2014will move into southern England during the early hours, with western areas staying cloudier than the clearer east.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK unemployment jumps to highest since 2021 as wage growth slows Britain\u2019s jobless rate has struck its highest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,103217,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-272165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-headline-block-5","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114874547361875553","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}