The UK jobs market has continued to weaken, making the prospect of an interest rate cut next month even more likely, analysts say, BBC.com reported. The annual rate of pay growth in the three months between March and May slowed to 5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The unemployment rate has risen to 4.7%, its highest in four years, while the number of job vacancies has now been falling continuously for three years. The government said that "we need to go further" to improve the economy, while the Conservatives said the unemployment rise was a "disgrace".

The European Union began proceedings against Spain over its intervention in banking mergers after the government blocked the legal combination of BBVA BBVA 0.59%increase; green up pointing triangle and Sabadell SAB 0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle for at least three years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Inflation unexpectedly rose in the U.K., likely keeping policymakers at the Bank of England cautious despite a limping economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The rate of annual inflation was 3.6% in June, up from 3.4% in May, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. The uptick echoes the situation in the U.S., where inflation picked up pace to 2.7% last month from 2.4% in May as prices rose among items sensitive to President Trump’s trade tariffs, such as toys and clothes.

Thousands of UK companies have been removed from the Companies House register over the last year, following a crackdown coordinated by the National Economic Crime Centre, according to a press release. These companies were not compliant with Registered Office requirements under the Companies Act 2006. The project was designed to identify and enable enforcement action against high-risk company incorporation locations and corporate entities believed to be enabling criminality in the UK and overseas.

Austrian prosecutors said on Tuesday they were bringing an insolvency-related fraud case against the former billionaire founder of the collapsed Signa property group, Rene Benko, Reuters reported. Benko has been in custody for more than five months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) carries out a wide-ranging investigation into a range of offences including several counts of fraud he and other unnamed people are suspected of.

Thames Water has been accused of “holding a gun to the taxpayer’s head” by warning it may have to be nationalised if it is not handed a reprieve on historical fines, The Telegraph reported. MPs said Thames was asking to be “let off the hook” as it warned there was a “material uncertainty” over whether a £17bn rescue deal led by creditors would succeed.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Tuesday the International Monetary Fund had a key role to play in tackling the buildup of risky imbalances in the world economy, many of them coming from the United States and China, Reuters reported. In a speech he was due to give to Britain's finance elite, Bailey acknowledged the concerns of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration about the danger of IMF overreach. But the BoE boss said attempts to fix the problems in the world economy - chief among them the big U.S.

Factory output in the eurozone partly rebounded from a tariff-induced slump in May, but trade is likely to remain a headwind even as manufacturers harbor hopes of better times on government pledges to increase defense and infrastructure spending, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial production increased 1.7% from April across the 20 nations that make up the eurozone, according to figures released by the European Union’s statistics agency on Tuesday. The increase reverses a sharp drop a month earlier, when the imposition of tariffs led to a fall in demand for European goods.

Ziglu, a UK-based cryptocurrency firm, has disclosed a substantial financial shortfall of $2.7 million, sparking worries among its investors, Coin World reported. This revelation emerged as the company grapples with insolvency, leaving many investors uncertain about the future of their investments. The shortfall was made public during the firm's insolvency proceedings, which were initiated after it became evident that Ziglu was unable to fulfill its financial commitments.