AI to drive up UK youth unemployment, as Alphabet raises $80bn for spending splurge – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsAnthropic confidentially files for initial public offering on US stock marketUK mortgage approvals have hit a 15-month high, despite the Middle East crisis driving up interest rates.The Bank of England has reported that 65,900 mortgages were approved in April, up from almost 64,000 in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s the highest level since January 2025.“Continued resilience in mortgage lending and housing market activity in April suggests the economic fallout from conflict in the Middle East has not yet hit household borrowing as hard as some feared. Mortgage approvals rose to