The number of unemployed people in France climbed sharply in the last months of 2024 as a chilly economic environment and enduring political uncertainty took their toll on the country’s labor market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The total of jobless people rose 4% to 2.93 million in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, figures from national jobs agency France Travail showed Monday. The rise was particularly steep among workers younger than 25, the figures showed.

U.K. firms are set for a tough year as financial distress makes a historic jump in every sector across the country, a Begbies Traynor study said, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy on Friday published its latest Red Flag Alert report, noting a worrying surge in the number of U.K. businesses entering “critical” financial distress in the final quarter of 2024. Critical financial distress rose by 50.2% in the quarter to 46,853 companies, underscoring a deteriorating outlook, it said.

Thames Water’s debt has been downgraded as the struggling utility company seeks to secure £3bn in emergency funding to stave off collapse, after it emerged that the government has approached potential administrators, The Guardian reported. The rating agency Moody’s downgraded the company’s debt rating, and increased its view of the probability of default, changing its outlook on Thames Water from stable to negative. Moody’s said that it downgraded Thames as it believes its proposed financial plans “do not provide an attractive risk-return balance for existing or new investors”.

A Hong Kong court delayed a hearing on Sino-Ocean Group Holding’s restructuring agreement with lenders, as the state-linked builder awaits a decision later this month on a UK case involving a debt plan for all creditors, Bloomberg News reported. Sino-Ocean earlier said that a group of loan lenders holding 86.2 percent of its debt had voted in favour of the Hong Kong scheme, passing a threshold of 75 per cent required for the restructuring arrangement in the city. The next Hong Kong hearing is set for Feb 19, “given the pending decision of the English Court”, according to a company filing.

Versorgungswerk der Zahnärztekammer Berlin (VZB), the pension fund for dentists in Berlin, Bremen and the state of Brandenburg, is facing losses following an investment made in the now insolvent insurtech start-up Element Insurance, Investment & Pensions Europe reported. The pension scheme is one of the main investors in the Berlin-based start-up, with a 27.14% stake in the company, according to Element Insurance’s 2023 solvency report, the latest available.

Russia's coal industry is in crisis as mines face bankruptcy against the backdrop of low world prices, it has been reported, according to Newsweek. Business newspaper Kommersant said that the Russian government is trying to tackle the industry's plummeting exports and revenues and that state development corporation VEB.RF is poised to take control of failing assets.

Austria has arrested Rene Benko, the founder of fallen property group Signa, on suspicion of trying to hide assets from insolvency administrators and creditors, prosecutors said on Thursday. Benko, 47, was arrested at his villa in Innsbruck early on Thursday, Austrian media reported. His lawyer, Norbert Wess, said that a court would need to decide within 48 hours whether his client should remain in custody. Benko has previously denied allegations made against him.