Thursday newspaper round-up: Agency workers, car manufacturing, Bitcoin

Agency workers are collectively underpaid by £400m a year compared to their full-time counterparts, with the pay gap costing temporary admin staff £990 a year on average, according to new research. The Resolution Foundation said the loss of pay across all sectors took the average loss for each of the UK’s 800,000 agency workers to £500 a year, up from £430 last year. – Guardian

The number of cars built in the UK fell in November compared to a year ago amid a continuing reduction in production for the home market, new figures show. Just under 161,500 cars left UK factories, down by 4.6% on the same month in 2016 after a huge 28% drop in domestic demand, the biggest decline of the year. Exports rose by 1.3%, reported the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which revealed that almost 80% of the 1.5m cars built this year have gone to one of 160 global markets. – Guardian

Two energy supply minnows have failed to meet a key payment deadline for the Government’s warm home discount scheme, fuelling growing fears of a financial crunch for small suppliers due to rising costs in the crowded market. Flow Energy and Spark Energy were both expected to pay into an Ofgem-run funding pot, which is backed by a 15-strong group of energy suppliers. The scheme aims to cut up to £140 from energy bills for the most vulnerable customers over the winter, when bills are at their highest. - Telegraph

Bitcoin will come under the scrutiny of regulators worldwide, the governor of the Bank of England has said, hours after America’s largest digital currency exchange said it would be investigating potential insider trading. Mark Carney said that the “scale of growth” of bitcoin over the past year would prompt global rule-makers to examine digital currencies, amid concerns about a speculative bubble. – The Times

Britain may be running out of workers, according to some of the UK’s biggest business groups, with recruiters reporting that they face growing difficulties with hiring. There has been a steady drop in the UK’s unemployment rate to a 42-year low of 4.3 per cent, squeezing the number of available candidates at a time when EU migrant workers are choosing to leave Britain. – The Times