The rate of UK unemployment rose to 3.8% in the three months to February, up from 3.7% in the previous three months
Vacancies fell by 47,000 over the same period
The ONS said this reflects “uncertainty across industries, as survey respondents continue to cite economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment”.
Meanwhile wage growth continues to be outstripped by soaring costs according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics
Total pay including bonuses down by 4.1% when inflation is taken into account despite a 5.9% rise in earnings
Average pay including bonuses fell by 3.0% in the year to December 2022 to February 2023, or 2.3% excluding bonuses.
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University,said:
“This is another challenging set of figures for workers who are seeing their wages fall in real terms for the 15th consecutive month.With inflation still high at 10.4%, it is vital public sector industrial disputes are resolved as quickly as possible to ensure those on low and insecure incomes are better able to deal with the cost of living crisis.
“Participation in the labour market remains a big issue too. While economic inactivity has fallen to 21.1% driven by a fall in the number of students, that risks masking the fact that long-term sickness continues to rise by 89,000 on the quarter. The OECD recently found that the UK has suffered the biggest decline in workforce participation of any G7 economy since the pandemic. This is a real problem for employers, as vacancies remain higher than pre-pandemic levels at 1.1 million.
“Instead of further tightening benefit sanctions – which the Government’s own research suggests doesn’t result in more people in work – the focus should be on improving the quality of jobs available. In the forthcoming King’s Speech, the Government has a final chance to introduce a new Employment Bill to strengthen job security and flexibility to attract more people back to work – it should end the delay and get on with it.”
