Britain’s labour market is showing signs of strain, with new data revealing a fall in job openings and growing pessimism among businesses, fuelling fears that the economy may be sliding towards recession. Alpesh Paleja, the CBI’s deputy chief economist, urged the Chancellor not to repeat last year’s approach of targeting firms with tax rises, warning that the business tax burden is already at a 25-year high. The timing of the downturn adds pressure on Labour as it heads into its party conference this week. Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Liberum, cited the Sahm Rule — which signals recession when unemployment rises by at least half a percentage point in a year. With UK joblessness up from 4.1 to 4.7 per cent in 12 months, French said the increase was a “clear warning signal” for policymakers.