London stock prices were mostly lower early Tuesday, after a UK unemployment report showed continued inflationary pressure from a lack of workers, making further interest rate hikes more likely.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 4.04 points, 0.1%, at 7,389.21. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 55.92 points, or 0.3%, at 19,566.33, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.86 points, 0.2%, at 849.69.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 739.37. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 16,890.72. The Cboe Small Companies was flat at 13,012.36.
Britain’s rate of unemployment edged higher in the three months to September as the country heads for what is feared will be the longest recession in a century.
The rate of unemployment stood at 3.6% in the three months to September, up from 3.5% in the three months to August, the Office for National Statistics said.
It came as more people dropped out of the workforce, with a hike in the proportion of people neither looking for work nor working.
Wage rises continued to be far outstripped by rocketing inflation, with average earnings with bonuses stripped out down…
