Image source, Getty Images

Canada has released its figures on employment too, and it created more jobs than expected in June.

According to Statistics Canada, a total of 31,800 jobs were created in June, most of part-time positions. Average hourly wages in June rose by 3.5% from the previous year.

Full-time jobs rose by 9,100, and manufacturing employment grew by 10,900 jobs - the first rise seen this year.

However, the unemployment rate rose from 5.8% to 6% as more people became job seekers.

The world's two largest economies, the US and China, are locked in a worsening trade battle that could have unexpected side effects on the global economy.

Donald Trump's trade war could potentially drag in products from other American trade partners, undermining relations.

This also risks a chain reaction as countries start clamping down on partners, which then retaliate.

So what can data tell us about the current trade conflict?

Image source, Getty Images

Happy Friday!

Thanks Rob and Ben for this morning's live coverage of all things business.

Mary-Ann Russon with you until 21:30 for the rest of the day's news and views.

Here's a full-scale replica of a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet that's currently stationed at the Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall, London, as part of events marking the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force.

Got a point of view? You can also tweet me at @concertina226, external and @BBCBusiness, external.

In June the US economy created 50,000 jobs in professional and business services, 36,000 in manufacturing and 25,000 health care.

But employment in retail declined.

Neil Irwin is senior economic correspondent at the New York Times.

Image source, Getty Images

The US economy created 213,000 jobs in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics., external

The numbers for May and April were revised higher.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.0% up from 3.8%.

Average hourly earnings rose at an annual rate of 2.7%.

Chris Johnston
Business reporter, BBC News

The Times and Sunday Times say the number of digital subscribers has overtaken the total for its print editions for the first time, as the total hits half a million.

News UK, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company that owns the titles, says digital-only subscriptions have jumped by a fifth year-on-year to 255,000. The remainder have either print only, or combined print and digital subscriptions.

The titles claims 3.75 million "registered access" users, who can read two free articles a week, and the Times has an average daily print circulation of just over 430,000.

News UK has not released any detail on the revenues generated by its digital subscriptions. Digital-only subscriptions, which offer offer access to the tablet editions as well as the websites, are considerably cheaper than those including the printed newspapers.

Rebekah Brooks, its chief executive, says: "Both print and digital subscribers are staying longer and spending more and we believe there continues to be potential to attract new audiences.”

This week the Telegraph Media Group said its profits almost halved last year to £13.7m as it embarked on a new digital-focused strategy.

Evening Standard business editor Jim Armitage tweets:

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Sony Music

"As a record company boss, you've definitely got to be good at keeping secrets," says Rob Stringer, the head of Sony Music Entertainment.

Rob can certainly play his cards close to his chest when it matters - he only told two other people in the business ahead of the surprise release of David Bowie's first record in a decade in 2013.

It's a mark of his diplomatic skills that he persuaded George Michael to return to Sony despite an earlier infamous courtroom bust-up between the two over the singer's contract.

Rob also has to keep artists as diverse as One Direction and Adele happy.

"I don't treat any artists the same," he says, in the manner of any boss looking after his staff.

Now read on... or listen to Wake Up to Money's Boardroom Stories podcast:

What a difference an hour makes. Now all the main European stock market indexes are in the red except Frankfurt's Dax, which is up just 0.04% on the day. The FTSE 100 is down 0.25%, the Cac 40 in Paris and Madrid's Ibex 35 are both 0.03% lower and Amsterdam's AEX is 0.06% lower.

Image source, EPA

Retail analyst Nick Bubb today highlights a plan by the New West End Company - which represents some 600 retailers, hoteliers and property owners in central London - to partially replace business rates with an online sales tax.

"NWE say that a 1% tax placed on the revenues of businesses that are 'wholly or largely online' would raise more than £5bn a year and allow the government to cut business rates by an average 17.5%, at no cost to the Treasury," he says.

"Interestingly, one example NWE use is that in 2017 Marks & Spencer paid £184m in business rates, with revenue of £9.6bn and that Amazon, with revenue of £7.3bn in the UK, paid just £14m…(if Amazon had paid the same proportion of their revenue as M&S they would have paid £140m in business rates)."

Stobart Group chairman Iain Ferguson, facing an effort to oust him at the company's annual meeting today, has told shareholders: "Regardless of the way you vote, there are important principles at stake."

Stobart, the owner of Southend and Carlisle airports, has been rocked by a power struggle in recent weeks.

Mr Ferguson is being challenged by the company's former boss, Andrew Tinkler, whose campaigning led to his being sacked from Stobart's board last month.

Mr Tinkler, former director Allan Jenkinson, and Neil Woodford of Woodford Investment Management have banded together to try to oust Mr Ferguson as chairman. Together, they control about a third of the shares in the company.

They are seeking to replace Mr Ferguson with Philip Day, chief executive of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.

Writs have been flying as both sides seek legal redress. Stobart has accused Mr Tinkler of breach of contract and fiduciary duty, while Mr Tinkler alleges that he has been defamed.

Image source, AFP

China's Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, has weighed in with his contribution to the war of words between his country and the US over trade tariffs.

"A trade war benefits no-one because it hurts free trade and the multilateral process," he told a summit with 16 EU and Balkan countries in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.

"If a country wants to raise tariffs, China will respond to defend itself," he said.

London's FTSE 100 is the only one of the major European stock market indexes that isn't currently up on the day. The Cac 40 in Paris and Frankfurt's Dax are both trading a slender 0.08% higher, while Amsterdam's AEX and Madrid's Ibex are up 0.03% and 0.06% respectively.

The FTSE 100 has taken a turn for the worse, although the symptoms are fairly mild. It's down nine points at 7,594. Worst performer is insurer Direct Line, down more than 3%. It's not a good day for miners, with Fresnillo trading 2.8% lower and Anglo American down 1.8%.

Image source, Getty Images

Deutsche Bank shares are up more than 5%.

US investment bank JP Morgan has denied a report in a German newspaper that it was interested in buying a stake in Deutsche Bank.

"We are denying the story, it is not true," a spokesperson for JPMorgan said.

The report in business weekly WirtschaftsWoche also said that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China might be interested in taking a stake.

Shares in Deutsche Bank are trading at record lows due to the bank's poor performance, so it wouldn't be surprising if rivals were sniffing around for a cheap deal.

In April the bank warned of significant job cuts under a plan to scale back its corporate and investment banking operations.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier this morning the Office for National Statistics reported, external that productivity fell 0.4% in the three months to the end of march, compared to the previous quarter.

That was the biggest contraction in a year.

There are no easy solutions points out Geraint Johnes, external, Professor of Economics at Lancaster University Management School.

"Pinning down a source for this low productivity growth is complex because there does not seem to be a single cause. Poor investment decisions in the years leading up to recession, and low rates of business investment in the years following the recession are likely to be important factors.

"The increasing mismatch between the skills that workers have and those they need to use in their jobs – evidence for example by rising incidence of ‘overeducation’ – is likely to be another. Fixing these is a major challenge, likely to require intensive collaboration between public and private sector players.”

Image source, Reuters

While journalists were interested in the Brexit views of Airbus chief executive Tom Enders (see earlier posts), he really wanted to talk about aircraft at the company's annual media briefing.

And there was some upbeat news. The company raised its forecast for demand for aircraft over the next 20 years. It now expects 37,400 jets to be sold over that period, up 7% on its previous forecast.

It is also having some success tackling problems with the production of its A320neo passenger jet.

A backlog of 100 of those aircraft had built up due to delays in deliveries of engines from Pratt & Whitney. That number has fallen to 86, Airbus said.

Kamal Ahmed
Economics editor

Image source, EPA

When Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, described the Treasury as the "heart of Remain", he was only partially correct. When a Cabinet minister said directly to me when asked about relations with Philip Hammond, "Well, he's a Remainer," that person missed the target.

Mr Hammond and the Treasury have long since given up on any idea that the UK can remain a member of the European Union. But at heart, the most powerful department in government - and many forget that is still true, despite the "spreadsheet Phil" dismissal of his critics - believes that the closest possible relationship with the European Union is the only way to reduce the potential of lasting economic damage to Britain post-Brexit.

Whilst others such as Mr Johnson and David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, have dominated the headlines, the Treasury has played it differently. Submarine would be a good descriptor.

Read Kamal's blog in full here

BBC business correspondent Theo Leggett tweets: