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UK markets were weighed down as the latest figures showed that the number of people on UK payrolls fell by 469,000 between March and June this year, as China reported GDP growth of 3.2% in the second quarter.
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics reported that the total number of weekly hours worked from March to May was 877.1 million, down a record 175.3 million hours on the previous year and a record 175.1 million hours down on the previous quarter.
The FTSE 100 was 0.7% lower, or 46.09 points, at 6,246.56, while the FTSE 250 shed 0.5%, or 84.63 points, to sit at 17,335.82 at 08.32am.
Sports betting company GVC has lost 5.4% to 864p on the news that revenue fell by 11% in the first half of the year as weaker performance in retail offset strong online performance.
It also said that chief executive Kenneth Alexander was set to retire from the company.
Hays tumbled 3.4% to 122.3p as the recruitment company reported that fee income was down by more than a third, and warned that it expected to generate a loss over the summer months.
Germany, its biggest market, reported a 33% decline in fees in the second quarter, while in the UK & Ireland fees fell 42%.
Anglo American is down 2.7% to £19 after the mining company announced a steeper decline in diamond and precious metals output amid lockdowns in southern Africa and lowered its coal output guidance amid Covid-19 related disruption.
Energy utility SSE has bounced 1.3% to £13.81 on the news that while output of electricity from renewable sources in the quarter to end of June was below its planned output, it had successfully issued over £1bn in hybrid bonds.
The company also reported that it continued to target delivery of its five-year dividend plan to 2022-23.
Insurer Aviva declined 0.5% to 292.5p after confirming it had completed the sale of Friends Provident International to RL360, a subsidiary of International Financial Group, for £259m.
Marshalls has gained 1.3% to 628p as the landscape products group reported a 25% year on year drop in revenue during the six months to 30 June, but said that recent trading has been better than expected.
Royal Bank of Scotland is flat at 121.5p on the announcement that its name change will take effect on 22 July 2020.
Information services company Experian has lost 0.8% to £28.23 after it reported a slight fall in first-quarter revenue as growth in North America kept losses from elsewhere in check.