Economics correspondent Andy Verity tweets:

The number of unemployed fell by 52,000 to 1.641 million, while the number of people in work rose by 172,000 to 31.75 million - pushing the employment rate up to 74.5% - a new high since the current records began in 1971.

The ONS said workers' total earnings, including bonuses, rose by an annual 2.4% in the three months to June, up from 2.3% in the three months to May and in line with economists' forecasts. 

The UK's unemployment rate held steady in the three months to June at 4.9%.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit unexpectedly fell in July despite the shock to the economy caused by the Brexit vote, official data showed. 

The claimant count fell by 8,600 to 763,600 people, compared with an increase of 900 in June, the Office for National Statistics said. 

Business Daily presenter Manuela Saragosa tweets:

BBC Business Live

Claudia Sender, chief executive of Brazil's TAM Airlines - which last year merged with Chile's LAN to form LATAM - has been talking to Daniel Gallas on Business Live.

LATAM is one of the main sponsors of the Rio games and given that Brazil is the airline's largest market, she says it was the right opportunity to launch its new branding. 

Before sinking into recession, Ms Sender says Brazil had become the world's third-largest domestic airline market, but leisure customers have since cut back on flying, with corporate clients also becoming more cautious.

However, she expects business travel to pick up again in the next year or two – but growth maybe not as fast as it had been.  

Despite concerns about whether the Rio games would be a success, Ms Sender says Brazilians "always surprise when the time comes to deliver the extraordinary”.

FT political correspondent Henry Mance tweets:

Despite those reasonably good results from Admiral today, its shares have sunk more than 7%, putting them on track for their worst day in nearly five years.

The insurer says market volatility following the Brexit vote has affected its solvency ratio. 

Admiral has also warned of additional Brexit risks including interest and exchange rates volatility, less favourable economic conditions in the UK and other countries - and the withdrawal of "passporting" rights for British financial services firms. 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Business presenter Rob Young tweets:

Image source, Reuters

You may not know that the world's biggest brickmaker is an Austrian company called Wienerberger, but now you do. The UK is its largest single market, accounting for nearly 20% of sales, and has 13 - count 'em - factories in Britain. 

Wienerberger says it has been hit by the fall in sterling following the Brexit decision, which was partly responsible for cutting its annual profit forecast by €10m to €405m (£350m).  

"We continue to see highly diverging developments in our markets, in new residential construction as well as in the renovation and infrastructure sectors," says chief executive Heimo Scheuch.

Image source, Getty Images

The amount UK consumers spend on everyday items has suffered its worst year-on-year performance for nearly two years, with the third-biggest decline among 21 European countries, according to figures from analysts Nielsen.

The 1.6% quarterly decline for the UK was primarily driven by fierce competition among retailers. The prices shoppers paid for consumer goods rose by just 0.7% year-on-year across Europe in the second quarter, while volumes rose 0.1% - the lowest level for over two years, according to Nielsen retail performance data. 

As a result retailers' takings increased by just 0.8% - the lowest figure since measurement began in the final quarter of 2008. 

Among the big five western European markets, Spain had the highest growth at 2.1%, followed by Italy (1.2%), while the UK had its worst performance for nearly two years with a drop of 1.6%.

The UK's big four grocers have been struggling to protect their market share from the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl. 

Image source, Getty Images

Shares in Morrisons are up a touch at 189.8p after the supermarket said yesterday that it had sold its 10% stake, external in US online food retailer Fresh Direct for £45m. It first announced a plan to sell the stake more than two years ago.

Clive Black at Shore Capital (which is a broker for the retailer) says the sale "makes sense for Morrisons for a number of reasons. 

The FTSE 100 is up 0.25% - about 17 points - at 6,911 points as trading gets underway.

The FTSE 250 is also 0.3% higher at 17,866 points.

Image source, Reuters

Cisco Systems will lay off about 14,000 employees - almost 20% of the network equipment maker's global workforce, according to technology news site CRN, external, citing "multiple sources sources close to the company".

The San Jose-based company is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks as it moves from its hardware roots to a more software-focused organisation.

It would follow other technology giants which have shed staff recently. In July 2014 Microsoft said it would slash 18,000 jobs; HP said last September  it expected to cut about 33,300 jobs over three years. And Intel said in April it would slash up to 12,000 jobs globally, or 11% of its workforce. 

Leisha Chi
Business reporter in Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

The VIP tables in Macau have been pretty empty of late.

The gambling hub has been suffering from a prolonged downturn after China's crackdown on corruption scared away many high-rollers. 

But that's not deterring MGM, which is increasing its stake in its China unit from 51% to 56% at a cost of about $325m (£249m).

MGM Resorts International chief executive Jim Murren told Bloomberg that the company made the deal because he "believes in the long-term future" of Macau.

MGM has spent $3.1bn building a second casino in Macau's Cotai Strip but the opening has been postponed several times and is now due to open next year.

Image source, Getty Images

Construction company Balfour Beatty, external has reported a total pre-tax loss of £21m for the first six months of the year - better than the £150m for the same period last year. 

On the underlying level, it managed a pre-tax profit of £7m - also better than the £130m loss last year.  

The company said its order book stood at £12.4bn, a rise of  7% at constant exchange rates 

Leo Quinn, chief executive, said the transformation of Balfour Beatty was now producing tangible benefits: "By concentrating on our selected markets, we are growing our order book within a control environment which ensures that our business decisions lead to sustainable profit and cash growth."

Image source, Reuters

Speaking of cars, Lookers - which runs about 150 dealerships in the UK and Ireland - says the Brexit vote has not affected sales of new or used motors. 

The company, which posted a 17% rise in first-half pretax profit to £46.7m, said the referendum vote had created uncertainty, but there had been little impact on demand. 

"We have not noticed any significant difference in terms of customer behaviour so far, particularly in respect of orders for new and used cars," says chairman Paul White.

New UK car registrations rose marginally in July compared with the same month last year - but only because a rise in fleet sales compensated for a 6% fall in private demand.