A flash consumer confidence indicator for the eurozone picked up slightly in February, with the reading rising to -14.8 from -15.5 in January, but remains well below its long-term average of -11.1. You can read more here.

Wall Street has opened lower after the worse-than-expected jobs data, with the biggest losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

• Dow Jones down 54 points, or 0.17%, to 31,558
• S&P 500 down 15 points, or 0.39%, to 3,915
• Nasdaq down 150 points, or 1.08%, to 13,814

Other US data showed housing starts fell 6% in January to 1.58m units. Here is the Reuters report:

US homebuilding fell more than expected in January amid soaring lumber prices, though a surge in permits for future construction suggested the housing market remains supported by lean inventories and historically low mortgage rates.

The housing market has outperformed other sectors of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, supported by lower mortgages rates and demand for spacious accommodations for home offices and schooling. But expensive inputs and lack of land pose a threat to continued robust housing market gains.

A survey on Wednesday showed confidence among single-family homebuilders edged up in February. But builders complained that record high lumber prices were “adding thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home and causing some builders to abruptly halt projects.”

Softwood lumber prices jumped a record 73% on a year-on-year basis in January, according to data from the Labor Department. Still, the housing market remains supported by historically low mortgage rates and lean inventories of previously owned homes.

Permits for future homebuilding shot up 10.4% to a rate of 1.881m units in January. Permits typically lead starts by one to two months.

John Leiper, chief investment officer at Tavistock Wealth, reckons the labour market will improve in the spring and into the summer as the Covid-19 jabs programmes pick up pace.

Overall, the data remains mixed as higher initial jobless claims remain within a six-month range, around the 800k level, whilst continuing claims continue to fall, albeit by less than expected. With most new claims coming from repeat layoffs we are increasingly concerned that deeper structural issues are at play which continue to disadvantage sub cohorts of the workforce.

Fed President Jerome Powell is already laser focused on this unemployment problem. When you add President Biden’s pending stimulus package and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who has been urging Congress to go hard or go home, the trifecta is complete and we think policy will remain highly accommodative for some time.

As such we expect the numbers to improve as we head into spring/early summer and vaccine-rollout programs pick-up pace. Only then will we get a better picture of the extent of the improvement and how many long-term jobs may have been lost permanently from the crisis.

US jobless claims took markets by surprise and rose for a second week, and the previous week was revised higher (to 848,000 from 793,000).

This has triggered bigger losses on European stock markets, and US stock futures are heading lower.

• UK’s FTSE 100 down 1.29%, or 86 points, at 6,624
• France’s CAC down 0.32% at 5,747
• Italy’s FTSE MiB down 0.84% at 22,983
• Germany’s Dax flat at 13,920

Markets are moving deeper into the red. The FTSE 100 index in London has slid 0.92%, or 61 points, to 6,649, while France’s CAC has lost 0.29% and Italy’s FTSE MiB is down 0.67%. Germany’s Dax is 0.12% ahead ahead of the US weekly jobless claims and housing starts figures, out in four minutes.

Reuters has looked at how Amsterdam is stealing a march on rivals as a post-Brexit trading hub.

All the talk was of Frankfurt or Paris luring London’s financial business as Britain peeled away from the EU. Yet it is Amsterdam that is proving the most visible early winner.

Data last week showed the Dutch capital had displaced London as Europe’s biggest share trading centre in January, grabbing a fifth of the 40 billion euros-a-day action, up from below a tenth of trading pre-Brexit.

Yet that is just one of several areas the city has quietly stolen a march on its rivals as it attracts businesses from Britain, evoking memories of its history as a global trading powerhouse in the 17th century.

Amsterdam has also overtaken London to become Europe’s number one corporate listing venue so far this year, data shows, and the leader in euro-denominated interest-rate swaps, a market estimated to be worth about $135 trillion in 2020.

The sell-off on the stock markets has gathered pace, and oil prices have also turned negative.

• UK’s FTSE 100 down 0.76% at 6,660
• Germany’s Dax down 0.19% at 13,883
• France’s CAC down 0.44% at 5,740
• Italy’s FTSE MiB down 0.76% at 23,002

Sterling has edged higher against the euro and the dollar, and hit the highest level in almost a year against the euro, of 86.65p. The pound has gained more than 2% against the single currency in February.

Britain’s successful vaccination campaign has raised expectations of a faster economic recovery, assuming that coronavirus restrictions can be eased soon. The rollout of Covid jabs has been noticeably slower in EU countries, due to supply shortages.

Covid infections have fallen by two-thirds in a month in England but the virus is now spreading most among primary-age children and young people, according to a study from Imperial College London.

Brent crude is flat at $64.33 a barrel while US futures are trading 0.1% lower at $61.09 a barrel. Earlier, Brent hit a fresh 13-month high of over $65.

Why is Texas suffering power blackouts during the winter freeze? How did oil- and gas-rich Texas – the biggest producer of energy in the US – get there, asks Lauren Aratani, one of our US reporters.

Texas is unique among the 48 contiguous US states in that it relies on its own power grid. The other 47 states are all part of the two power grids that service the eastern and western halves of the country.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as Ercot, manages the state’s power grid. Ercot is technically a non-profit corporation, and while it functions independently from the state’s government, the corporation is overseen by a state agency called the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Members of the commission are appointed by the state’s governor...

Parts of Texas are not serviced by Ercot. El Paso at the western tip of the state gets power from the Western Interconnection, which is why the city has been saved from the most brutal effects of the power outages.

Here is our full story on Moonpig, which recorded its strongest week of sales in its history in the run-up to Valentine’s Day as it benefited from online spending during the latest lockdown.

The company, which floated on the stock market on 2 February, said it was on track to double its annual revenues as Covid restrictions drive greater demand. Revenues last year were £173m, my colleague Jillian Ambrose reports.

Consumers have flocked to the site to buy cards, and many are also choosing gifts, which has raised the average amount spent on each Moonpig order. Moonpig sells flowers, bubbly, wine and beer gift sets.

The company was founded two decades ago by Nick Jenkins, a former commodities trader and Dragon’s Den contestant. Moonpig’s name stems from his schoolboy nickname.

The FTSE 100 index in London is back in positive territory, up 0.09%, but European markets are very muted and Asia clocked up losses, amid inflation fears.

UK inflation rose to 0.7% in January lifted by rising food prices, official data showed yesterday, and several economists predicted that it would rise to (or even over) the Bank of England’s 2% target this year. Rising shipping prices and Brexit costs are likely to hit consumers in the pocket.

Rising inflation should not be a real headache for the Bank, but will influence the central bank’s policy – it will start to think about how and when to unwind some of the emergency stimulus it has been providing. And negative interest rates look to be off the agenda.

“The results are far from perfect, but in opening the reporting season Barclays has set the bar high for its rivals,” says Richard Hunter, head of markets at the trading platform interactive investor.

The unavoidable spectre of the pandemic dominates the figures. Barclays has continued in its efforts to oil the economy and for the full year provided support to businesses of £27bn, waived fees and interest to the tune of £100m and allowed 680,000 payment holidays.

The dividend part of the distribution of 1 pence is little more than the bank dipping its toe back in the payout waters and may be of some disappointment to income-seekers who were looking back to the pre-pandemic dividend yield of 9.6% as a guide. Even so, the announced share buyback of £700m should lend some support to the share price and is indicative of management confidence in prospects.

In all, the performance is dogged, set against an extraordinary backdrop. The shares have risen 39% since the announcement of a vaccine in early November, which prompted hopes of a much-needed general economic recovery. However, much of the damage was already done and the shares remain down 13% over the last year, as compared to a decline of 9% for the wider FTSE100.

There is light at the end of the tunnel given the bank’s financial strength and diversity, though, and Barclays is currently the preferred play in the sector, with the market consensus of the shares as a buy reflective of recovery prospects.

Here’s some instant reaction to the Barclays results. Sudeepto Mukherjee, of the consultancy Publicis Sapient, says:

As expected, Barclays strong results are largely driven by their corporate and investment banking division up 22%, benefitting from high market volatility as well as strong investment banking activity. Their strong position in equities have helped them improve 43% in marketshare over the last 3 years which is impressive.

However, there’s continued scrutiny on the performance of both their UK retail division as well as their Consumer, Cards and Payments division – the latter down 22% driven by lower credit card balances, margin compression and reduced payments activity. While mortgage lending and pricing is up driven by government incentives and lower interest rates, the latest lockdowns and reduced retail activity in both sides of the Atlantic have created continued headwinds for the retail businesses.

Overall, it’s their diversified business model that ensured a resilient operating performance, and a profitable four quarters during what was a turbulent year for many. Barclays will have to continue to focus more on cost reductions via digitisation and get their retail businesses to be competitive as consumer spending picks up in 2021 to maintain their strong performance against rivals.

Here is our full story on the Barclays results.

Barclays has paid its chief executive Jes Staley £4m and handed larger bonuses to its bankers despite a 30% drop in annual profits during the Covid crisis, reports our banking correspondent Kalyeena Makortoff.

Pre-tax profits fell to £3.1bn for 2020 from £4.4bn a year earlier, with earnings hit by a jump in bad debt provisions. The bank put aside a total of £4.8bn to cover a potential surge in loan defaults linked to the coronavirus outbreak, slightly lower than the £5bn that analysts had expected.

However, the bank highlighted the strong performance of its investment bank, which performed better than expected thanks to a jump in trading due to market volatility last year.

The FTSE has now turned negative, trading 9 points, or 0.14%, lower at 6,701 while other European stock markets have fared slightly better.

• Germany’s Dax up 0.18% at 13,933
• France’s CAC up 0.06% at 5,769
• Italy’s FTSE MiB up 0.05% at 23,191

In London, the artificial hips and knees maker Smith & Nephew is the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, down 7.4%, after reporting a 7.1% drop in fourth-quarter sales and an 11% fall in 2020 sales to $4.56bn.

The company has been hit by the pandemic, as coronavirus restrictions led to fewer hip and knee replacements last year. Annual profit before tax dropped to $246m from $743m in 2019.

Barclays shares are also down, by just under 3%.

Stock markets have opened slightly higher, as expected. The FTSE 100 index in London is flat at 6,712 while Germany’s Dax and Italy’s FTSE MiB are up 0.2%.

However, in a stark reminder of the damage wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, another report shows that almost 2 million people in Britain have not worked for more than six months during the pandemic, amid growing risk to workers from long-term economic damage caused by the crisis.

The Resolution Foundation said up to 1.9 million people in January had either been out of a job or on full furlough for more than six months, revealing the lasting impact on employment caused by Covid and multiple lockdowns, writes our economics correspondent Richard Partington.

Business confidence in the UK has jumped to its highest level in five years as firms look ahead to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions easing and a bounce in sales during 2021, according to a leading barometer of corporate activity.

Companies are also preparing to increase exports and employment in the second half of the year in a clear signal that they expect a strengthening economic outlook after a successful vaccination programme, the Guardian’s economics writer Phillip Inman reports.

The business confidence index, compiled by the ICAEW accountancy body from a survey of 1,000 firms, showed confidence for the year ahead rising from -19 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to +10 in the first quarter of 2021.

Rishi Sunak’s March budget will be a fresh Covid rescue package that will defer plans for significant tax increases as the chancellor throws his weight behind a cautious approach to reopening the economy, government sources have confirmed.

The UK chancellor will present his budget on 3 March.

Boris Johnson signalled yesterday that the government would take a slow path towards reopening hospitality, which could mean pubs and restaurants are not able to serve customers without restrictions on groups until June or July, my colleagues Jessica Elgot, Heather Stewart and Rob Davies report. Even then, venues are likely to need to continue to have social distancing measures in place.

The budget will now be dominated by measures to protect jobs and shore up support for shuttered sectors. With the vaccination programme proceeding rapidly, Sunak had hoped to be able to focus on rebuilding the economy for the long term and helping businesses to expand and take on more workers.