The UK's unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7% in the three months leading up to January, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The employment
rate also increased slightly to 75.7% between November 2022 and January 2023, with the rise attributed to an increase in part-time and self-employed workers. Early estimates suggest that February's payroll figures will show that 30 million people are currently employed in Britain.
However, the number of people out of work for over 12 months rose slightly during the same period. The ONS also reported that the number of vacancies in Britain fell by 51,000 to 1.12 million between December 2022 and February 2023, which it attributed to "uncertainty across industries". The growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 6.5% for employees in the period, with private sector workers seeing the highest increase at 7%. Public sector pay increased by 4.8%, marking the highest growth since December 2005 to February 2006.
The UK Statistics Authority stated that economic inactivity fell by 0.2% to 21.3% between November 2022 and January 2023, with people aged 16 to 24 accounting for most of the reduction. Meanwhile, strikes by public sector workers demanding better pay and conditions are thought to have led to 220,000 working days being lost in January, down from 822,000 in December 2022.
The ONS figures were released the day before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Spring Budget, which comes amid a series of strikes by junior doctors, health professionals, civil servants, and transport unions. The ONS reported that while pay rises in the public sector have been significant, adjusting for inflation shows that growth for regular pay has fallen by 2.4% in November 2022 to January 2023.
The statistics also indicate that there is still uncertainty across industries, with survey respondents citing economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment. The growth in part-time and self-employed workers may also suggest that workers are choosing these options out of necessity rather than preference.
The figures highlight the ongoing challenges facing the UK economy, including low productivity and Brexit uncertainty. While the employment rate has increased slightly, the rise in long-term unemployment and reduction in job vacancies demonstrate that there is still much work to be done to create a sustainable and inclusive labour market. Photo by Phil Whitehouse, Wikimedia commons.