UK jobless figure ticks up and job vacancies fall
13th December 2022 08:08
by Victoria Scholar from interactive investor
This difficult economic period is peculiar in that there is historically low unemployment and high vacancy rates, but businesses are becoming more cautious.
The UK unemployment rate for August to October worsened slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7% according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Tuesday.
Job vacancies between September and November hit 1.187 million, falling 65,000 versus the previous quarter. Meanwhile the employment rate for August to October increased by 0.2 percentage points to 75.6% but is still below pre-pandemic levels. The overall number of employees increased over the last three-month period, with a decline in the rate of economic inactivity. After accounting for inflation, average pay fell by 2.7% in the year to August to October both including and excluding bonuses.
The UK unemployment rate ticked up slightly, while job vacancies fell from historically high levels, reflecting the uncertain economic outlook with businesses becoming more cautious about their hiring plans giving the looming recession.
There was a drop in the number of working-age people regarding themselves as retired. This aligns with other data to suggest more people in their 50s are thinking of going back to work, to offset some of the pressures from the cost-of-living crisis.
With inflation still stuck in double digits, real pay suffered another steep drop, among the biggest drops since records began in 2001. This underscores why so many workers are on strike at the moment, with their pay packets being eroded by the rising price environment. In fact, labour disputes mean 417,000 working days were lost in October, the highest since 2011.
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