Part 9/12:
The labor market, once tight and resilient, is showing signs of softening. Approximately 135,000 jobs were lost between May and June, and the unemployment rate has increased to 4.7%. More alarmingly, over 1.7 million people claim unemployment benefits, and redundancies are rising—up 17% over a single month. Youth unemployment is particularly concerning, with over 13% of young men neither in education nor employment or training. These figures highlight a struggling workforce and an economy that is losing steam.