Revealed: How graduate starting salaries are shrinking

📍Top line: Graduates who left university this summer are earning less in real terms than their counterparts did three years ago.

The average graduate job salary is now £32,000, according to The Times. This is a 3.2% increase from last year, but £3,559 lower than 2021 when adjusted for inflation. 

Competition is also fiercer than ever. Employers in a survey from the Institute of Student Employers received an average of 91 applications per graduate position, with some firms attracting over 200 candidates per vacancy.

✅ Good news for school leavers: While graduate salaries have seen modest growth, school-leavers have enjoyed faster increases, with their starting pay rising 56.6% since 2015. The typical school-leaver salary is now £23,000.

Nike struggling amid global sports footwear boom

📍Top line: The sports footwear market is booming, with global retail sales reaching $165 billion in 2023, a 23 percent increase from 2018, according to Euromonitor. Every geographic region saw growth, with Latin America leading the way with a 38 percent rise, while Asia Pacific and North America continued to be the two largest markets.

Despite the boom, footwear giant Nike is feeling the heat as it struggles to reverse a 10% sales drop in its latest quarter. The sportswear giant is trying to bounce back under new leadership after withdrawing its financial guidance for the year. Once dominant on retailer shelves, Nike's presence at stores like Foot Locker has shrunk, with its share of inventory falling from 75% in 2020 to 65% last year.

While Nike stumbles, other sports footwear retailers are thriving. Foot Locker, DSW, and Fleet Feet are all diversifying their product lines, adding brands like New Balance and Hoka. Foot Locker, previously reliant on Nike, is seeing success by offering more options for customers who want variety.

Elsewhere in business:

🎰 The government is considering a significant tax increase on the gambling industry, potentially raising up to £3 billion. The hike would likely target online casinos and bookmakers, and could involve doubling taxes on products considered to cause higher social harm, such as online casino games.

💰The BBC awarded a record number of “golden goodbyes” exceeding £100,000 in severance to redundant staff last year. According to the corporation’s annual accounts, 219 employees received six-figure payouts in 2023-24, amounting to over £28 million.

UK economy set for £50 billion investment boost

📍 Top line: The UK government is set to announce over £50 billion in investments from businesses at the International Investment Summit today.

This figure is roughly twice the £28 billion unveiled at the previous comparable event held under the previous government.

High-profile executives from companies like Google-parent Alphabet, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs are expected to be in attendance.

🛳️ Not all plain sailing: A last-minute dispute with DP World, the owner of P&O Ferries, put a £1 billion investment in the London Gateway port in jeopardy. The company had threatened to withdraw from the summit after being labeled a ‘rogue operator’ by the Transport Secretary.

Elsewhere in the economy:

💷 The number of people moving to Scotland and Wales from England has surged as living costs continue to escalate. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that net migration out of England rose by 53% to 31,393 in the year ending June 2023. This marks the highest level of internal migration since records began in 2001, excluding the pandemic's lockdown year in 2020.

🫰Britain's top 1 million taxpayers now contribute over two-fifths of all income tax, according to HM Revenue and Customs data. Taxpayers subject to the 45p tax rate are expected to pay £124 billion this year. This sum is more than is raised from corporation tax, as well as annual revenue from fuel duties, council tax and business rates combined.

Deloitte will soon be closing applications for its Full Time Graduate Audit position in London. Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to assist in providing auditing services to some of the world’s largest companies from a variety of sectors. The role is open to undergraduates or graduates with a minimum 2:1 in any degree. Apply now here.

SpaceX makes major step towards reusable rockets

📍Top line: Elon Musk’s Starship rocket achieved a world-first feat during its fifth test flight, successfully capturing part of its lower half as it returned to the launch pad. The SpaceX Super Heavy booster was caught by giant “mechazilla” arms, nicknamed chopsticks, marking a significant step toward a fully reusable and rapidly deployable rocket.

Watch SpaceX’s remarkable success here!

The dramatic launch, which took place on Sunday, showcased the 23-story booster flipping mid-air and reigniting its engines for a controlled descent back to the launch pad in Texas. The space exploration firm’s success comes less than a year after the rocket's inaugural flight ended in a spectacular explosion shortly after launch.

The landmark feat represents a significant leap toward SpaceX's goal of creating fully reusable rockets for missions to the Moon and eventually Mars. Founder Elon Musk hailed the success as a “big step towards making life multiplanetary”.

Elsewhere in tech:

📱 A new Oxford University study has revealed a strong link between teenage social media use and rising anxiety and depression levels. Researchers found that 60% of 16- to 18-year-olds spend two to four hours daily on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Some teens even reported up to eight hours online daily. The study suggested that improving sleep and exercise could enhance mental health among this age group.

🚕 Uber and Lyft stocks surged after Tesla unveiled the much-anticipated Cybercab robotaxi last week. While Uber’s shares jumped 7% to an all-time high and Lyft's rose 8.3%, Tesla's stock plunged nearly 9%, erasing about $60 billion from its market value. Investors were left wanting more from Elon Musk’s event and analysts criticised the CEO for a lack of specifics, raising doubts about Tesla's ambitious plans.

🎸 Never-before-heard Jimi Hendrix tapes from 1968 are set to hit the auction block next month, 54 years after his death. These rare seven-minute demos of iconic tracks like Up From The Skies and Stone Free could fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds!

🏃‍♀️ Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich shattered the women's world record at the Chicago Marathon, clocking in at 2:09:56—nearly two minutes faster than the previous record. At 30, she became the first woman to break the 2-hour 10-minute barrier.

🇺🇸 A man illegally carrying a shotgun and a loaded handgun was arrested near Donald Trump’s rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday, according to police. The suspect, 49-year-old Vem Miller, was driving a black SUV when deputies stopped him at a security checkpoint and discovered the two firearms along with a “high-capacity magazine.”