Britain’s jobs market showed tentative improvement in August, with the REC and KPMG permanent-placements index rising to 50.5 from July’s neutral 50.0 reading, its first expansion since September 2022. Temporary billings also expanded strongly, the decline in vacancies eased, candidate availability rose at the fastest pace in three months partly because of redundancies, and permanent starting-salary growth reached its strongest rate since January. A separate description of the REC survey characterized full-time hiring as increasing for the first time in four years. The UK data came as investors awaited Chancellor John Healey’s first major speech before next month’s budget. US employers added 162,000 jobs in August, versus economists’ 65,000 forecast, while unemployment held at 4.1% and annual wage growth slowed to 3.1%, a five-year low. Futures-implied odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase rose to just under 60%, pressuring markets. The pound held just above $1.35, oil approached seven-week highs after US strikes on Iranian oil tankers and Tehran’s Strait of Hormuz threat, and Bitcoin fell as much as 3.5% to $78,649 after trading above $80,000.