New UK Leader Andy Burnham Faces a Cooling Job Market

New PM Andy Burnham picked his team as official data showed UK job openings at 712,000 — almost half their 2022 peak. Pay raises slowed to 2.9%. Unemployment stayed at 4.9%. The number of people on payrolls fell 90,000 over the year through May. These trends predate Burnham but set the stage he now faces.