An essential ingredient in economic policymaking, from interest rates to government spending, is reliable data. But government officials, economists and other number crunchers in Britain are expressing deepening concern over a long-running issue with a data set used to understand a crucial area: the country’s jobs market, the New York Times reported.

Just weeks after the collapse of Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB, its founder Vargas Holding is turning its attention to another energy-intensive industry that needs cleaning up, Bloomberg News reported. Partnering with Rio Tinto Plc, Fortum Oyj and Mitsubishi Corp., Vargas plans to build a low-carbon primary aluminum plant in Finland that could be up and running late this decade. The project — named Arctial — would add another piece to the Swedish investment firm’s portfolio that also includes green steel, textile recycling and heat pumps.

Solarmax, a German inverter and battery storage systems specialist with more than 30 years of experience, is facing insolvency. Last week, a German district court opened preliminary insolvency proceedings against the Bayern-based company, PV-Magazine.com reported. The Neu-Ulm district court judges appointed Michael Pluta of Pluta Rechtsanwalts GmbH as preliminary insolvency administrator, as his law firm published on Friday. A statement from Pluta said Solarmax was experiencing financial difficulties due to market conditions.

Recaro has been rescued from bankruptcy. The financial lifeboat comes courtesy of Proma Group, an Italian automotive parts supplier, which yesterday announced that it had signed an investment agreement to take over operations for the world's oldest seat maker, Car and Driver reported. Proma said in a press release that its investment will allow Recaro Automotive, which is based in Germany, to continue operations amidst a transitional phase. That will lead to a European relaunch in January, when OEM production will move to Italy.

Norway’s banks may face higher risks from a potential home price rally in a nation with the most indebted households in the developed world, its financial watchdog warned, Bloomberg News reported. The planned easing of lending regulations from January would boost housing valuations, Per Mathis Kongsrud, director general of the Financial Supervisory Authority, said in an interview in Oslo. Should the expected reduction in credit costs turn out steeper than projected, it could lead to “a rather sharp” rise in home prices, he said.

German industrial production fell again in October as the sector continued to struggle, with swathes of layoffs and potential trade tariffs threatening to compound the problem, the Wall Street Journal reported. Output dropped 1.0% on month in October, German statistics agency Destatis said Friday, weaker than the 1.0% uptick expected by economists in a poll compiled by The Wall Street Journal. Production declined by 2.0% in September, and by 0.4% in the three months to October.

The European Central Bank is seeking to accelerate its approval process for significant risk transfers, helping lenders to take advantage of booming demand for the deals, Bloomberg News reported. Under new proposals, banks will be allowed to submit information for their SRT transactions to the ECB just two weeks ahead of deal completion. This compares with the current requirement for a minimum of three months. In addition, the ECB aims to ask banks for fewer details about proposed transactions. A pilot of the simplified process is due to start in January and run for around six months.

The Polish government’s decision to reduce energy prices only until next September has “complicated” the outlook for inflation and effectively delayed the timing of interest rate cuts, according to the central bank, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s Monetary Policy Council will likely delay discussions over rate reductions until at least October, which could push back cuts into 2026, Governor Adam Glapinski said on Thursday. The MPC kept its benchmark unchanged at 5.75% during this week’s meeting.

Investors gave a lukewarm response to Thames Water’s equity raise, with several potential bidders ruling themselves out of the process, and the viability of one offer in doubt, Bloomberg News reported. CK Infrastructure Holdings — one of the firms tipped to invest — decided against placing a preliminary bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Thames set a deadline of Thursday for indicative bids. Carlyle Group Inc.