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United Kingdom
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The number of people going financially insolvent in England and Wales last year was 14% higher than in 2023, driven by debt relief orders, DROs, jumping to a record high, according to the Insolvency Service, Alliance News reported. Some 117,947 personal insolvencies were registered in 2024, 14% higher than the 103,434 recorded in 2023. Within the total, there were 43,249 DROs – the highest annual number on record and 36% higher than in 2023.
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Dozens of councils face a wave of new sex discrimination claims that town hall bosses fear will push them into bankruptcy, The Times reported. Payouts worth up to £500 million are being demanded by the GMB trade union, after a deal was struck last month with Birmingham city council, Europe’s largest local authority. The case is viewed as a “template” for action against other councils, given workers in jobs predominantly held by women were found to have been paid less than those in male-dominated ones.
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The U.K.’s unemployment rate rose in the three months through November, a fresh sign the economy is faltering that increases the likelihood the Bank of England will lower its key interest rate early next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Unemployment stood at 4.4% of the workforce between September and November, rising from 4.3% in the previous three-month period, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. That takes joblessness to its joint-highest level since 2021.
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A councillor has said the U.K. government needs to urgently help their authority with adult care costs, to avoid bankruptcy, BBC.com reported. Despite welcoming the government's plan for reform, Somerset councillor Sarah Wakefield, lead member for Adults Services, Housing and Homelessness, said she is concerned funding will take too long to arrive. The Liberal Democrat-led Somerset Council spends 70-80% of its whole budget on social care and education.
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Retailers in the U.K. recorded a dispiriting December, with not even the Christmas and Black Friday shopping periods saving them from declining sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.K. retail sales volumes were 0.3% lower in December than in the prior month, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. The decline was driven by a poor month for food sales, which sank to their lowest level since 2013, with supermarkets particularly affected, according to ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach.
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Britons are using buy-now, pay-later like never before to fund their lifestyles, Bloomberg News reported. This model, allowing customers to spread out payments without interest or credit checks, has become the darling of retailers and is drawing a growing menagerie of fintech companies. That’s increasing the competition and risks squeezing industry margins, just as the government gets ready to regulate the sector. Activity rose nearly a fifth to about $27 billion last year, putting it at 7.7% of the UK’s total e-commerce market, according to GlobalData Plc.
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