Theresa May has appointed Stephen Barclay as economic secretary to the finance ministry.

The Brexit supporter will be responsible for financial services policy and the government's relationship with the financial services industry.

Before becoming an MP in 2010, Mr Barclay worked in financial regulation and then fraud prevention at Barclays.

Image source, PA

Growth in oil supply will outpace demand in 2018, hampering efforts to support prices, the International Energy Agency has said.

It said production outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would grow twice as quickly in 2018 as it would this year, with US shale oil producers driving the growth.

It said the outlook would make "sobering reading" for Opec and its partners, which recently agreed to extend production cuts in a bid to support prices.

The FTSE 100 has shrugged off fresh fears of a UK consumer spending squeeze, climbing 0.36% to 7,527.65 points.

The best performers are housebuilders Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon which have gained between 1.84% and 2.39%.

The pound has taken a hit after the publication of today's labour market data.

It's lost all of the day's gains, trading 0.14% lower against the dollar at $1.27370.

Kathleen Brooks of CityIndex says: "The fact that wage growth has continued to fall to its lowest level for three years is likely to keep a lid on the pound and firmly keep the Bank of England on hold [in terms of raising interest rates]."

Image source, Getty Images

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, says the most striking feature of today's labour market data was the growing squeeze on real pay, particularly in the public sector:

The ONS figures show the UK job market on a firm footing but concerns remain, says the British Chambers of Commerce.

Head of economics Suren Thiru says: "Employment levels may moderate over the near term as the escalating burden of upfront business taxes and costs, and political uncertainty, dampen firms’ hiring intentions."

He adds: “The continued rise in the number of vacancies is further evidence of the growing skills shortage. While employment levels are high by historic standards, businesses report that they are increasingly struggling to find staff with the right skills, which is constraining investment and productivity."

Commenting on the latest labour market data published by the Office for National Statistics, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

As this chart from the ONS shows, the biggest rise in employment in the three months to April was among women working full time. That was followed by men working both full time and part time.

The number of women working part time decreased.

Image source, ONS

Image source, Getty Images

The number of self-employed people increased by 103,000 to 4.8 million from February to April. That's 15% of all people in work.

Scott Bowman, economist, at Capital Economics says although inflation is eating away at the spending power of UK consumers "the forthcoming squeeze on real wage growth should be nowhere near as severe or prolonged as that seen after the financial crisis".

He thinks that inflation will start to fall back next year and low unemployment will eventually force wages higher.

After that data on unemployment and wages, the pound gave up all of Tuesday's gains.

A short while ago it was trading at $1.2750.

Kit Juckes is an analyst at Societe Generale

Image source, Getty Images

There were 1.53 million unemployed people between February and April, the Office for National Statistics says, external.

That's 50,000 fewer than for November 2016 to January 2017 and 145,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

This left the unemployment rate at 4.6% in February to April, down from 5% a year earlier and the joint lowest since 1975.

Basic pay (excluding bonuses) rose 1.7% in the February to April period, which is lower than the previous month's growth rate of 1.8%, according to the Office for National Statistics, external.

That means the gap between inflation (2.9%) and pay growth has widened.

Growth in regular pay has been falling since the September to November period of last year.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Barclays

Barclays has developed a "super-sized" card reader to help older customers who have difficulty with their sight.

The readers are used to provide an extra layer of security when banking online.

The bank has also introduced a debit card with a more visible security code following feedback from older customers.

The bank said that it was customer feedback that prompted the development, years after the original formats were launched.

Image source, Thames Water

Thames Water has been fined £8.55m for its "unacceptable" failure to reduce leakage in 2016-17.

Industry regulator Ofwat says, external it has fined Thames Water the maximum amount for failing to meet the target and has opened an investigation to consider whether further enforcement action is needed.

Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross, says: "We take very seriously our responsibility to ensure that every water company is delivering for its customers and where they fall short, we do not hesitate to step in to protect customers’ interests.”