Britain’s jobless rate has risen unexpectedly and the number of workers on payrolls has fallen by the most since the height of the pandemic, according to official figures
Meanwhile UK average regular earnings growth rose to 5.6% in the three months to November and was 3.4% higher after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account,
The rate of UK unemployment rose to 4.4% in the three months to November from 4.3% in the three months to October, the Office for National Statistics said this morning in figures released
Vacancies decreased to 812,000.
There are 118,000 fewer vacancies than a year ago and vacancies have been falling consistently for two and half years.
Economic inactivity due to long-term sickness is up on the quarter at 2.81 million. It has been above 2.7 million for 18 consecutive months since Apr-Jun 2023.
Rebecca Florisson, Principal Analyst at the Work Foundation at Lancaster University commenting on the figures said
“Today’s labour market figures provide a mixed picture – increases to real term pay may grab the headlines, but other indicators remain sluggish.
“Regular pay is up 5.6% on the year, driven by private sector pay growth. While real wage growth of 2.5% on the year is good news for workers these gains appear to be being driven by pay catching up with price rises, not by increased productivity or economic growth. The Government must not be complacent that this level of pay growth will continue throughout 2025 and provide the improved living standards they are promising. This latest pay data may though raise further questions for Bank of England ratesetters, who may be concerned by continued strong wage growth in a stagnating economy.
“Vacancies continue to fall indicating a cooling jobs market. Although redundancies are at a historically low level, business voices continue to raise warnings that the simultaneous rise in employer National Insurance Contributions and minimum wage increases in April could result in job losses and reduced hiring in a number of low paid sectors and entry level roles.
“Achieving the Government’s ambition to raise the employment rate to 80% always appeared incredibly challenging, and looks even more so against a backdrop of a stagnating economy and falling vacancies.
“However, it is vital Ministers are not sidetracked from their long-term aims of raising labour market participation and improving workers’ rights. De-risking the route back into work for the near-record 2.81 million economically inactive due to long-term sickness could be key to achieving a higher employment rate – which requires employment support, but also notably, better access to good quality, flexible jobs for people to enter into.”
