July’s unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped according to figures out this morning while pay growth dropped to its lowest level in nearly two years
There were 884,000 job vacancies in May to July 2024, down 26,000 on the quarter and 141,000 on the year. It is still 88,000 above pre-COVID levels, though.
The unemployment rate stood at 4.2 per cent in July down from 4.5 per cent in June although 51,000 fewer people were unemployed in the quarter.The economic inactivity rate rose to 22.2 per cent suggesting more people have dropped out of the Labour market
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said:
“There was a fall in the unemployment rate, which is now lower than a year ago. Meanwhile, there was a modest increase in both the total numbers of people in employment and the number of employees on payroll in the latest quarter.
“However, the medium-term picture remains somewhat subdued with the employment rate still lower than a year ago and the growth rate in the number of payrolled employees having slowed over the year.
“The number of job vacancies continues to decline, although the total number remains above pre-pandemic levels.”
Growth in total pay (including bonuses) slowed more sharply, to 4.5 per cent from 5.7 per cent a month ago). However, this data is distorted by one-off bonus payments made to NHS staff in June 2023.
