Labour Market Report - Office For National Statistics
This month the ONS (Office For National Statistics) reported on the labour market for the previous quarter including Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.
The main points are summarised below:
The UK employment rate for July to September 2022 was 75.5%, largely unchanged on the previous quarter and 1.1 percentage points lower than before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (December 2019 to February 2020). Over the latest three-month period, the number of employees decreased, while self-employed workers increased.
The employment rate is unchanged on the quarter but increased on the year and is still below pre-pandemic rates.
The most timely estimate of payrolled employees for October 2022 shows another monthly increase, up 74,000 on the revised September 2022 figures, to a record 29.8 million.
The number of payroll employees is now well above pre-pandemic levels.
The unemployment rate for July to September 2022 decreased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 3.6%. The number of people unemployed for all duration categories decreased in the latest three-month period.
The unemployment rate decreased on the quarter and the year, and is below pre-pandemic rates.
The economic inactivity rate increased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 21.6% in July to September 2022. During the latest three-month period, the increase in economic inactivity was driven by those who are long-term sick, who increased to a record high.
The economic inactivity rate increased on the quarter and the year, and is still above pre-pandemic rates.
In August to October 2022, the estimated number of vacancies fell by 46,000 on the quarter to 1,225,000. Despite four consecutive quarterly falls, the number of vacancies remain at historically high levels. An increasing number of businesses are now reporting holding back recruitment because of economic pressures.
Vacancies decreased on the quarter but are above pre-pandemic levels.
Growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 6.0% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 5.7% among employees in July to September 2022. This is the strongest growth in regular pay seen outside of the coronavirus pandemic period.
Average regular pay growth for the private sector was 6.6% in July to September 2022, and 2.2% for the public sector. Outside of the height of the coronavirus pandemic period, this is the largest growth seen for the private sector and the largest difference between the private sector and public sector.
Outside of the pandemic period, regular pay has seen the strongest growth in the latest quarter.
In real terms (adjusted for inflation) over the year, total pay fell by 2.6% and regular pay fell by 2.7%. This is slightly smaller than the record fall in real regular pay we saw in April to June 2022 (3.0%), but remains among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
Increases in inflation in recent months are causing real pay growth rates to decrease.
In September 2022, there were 205,000 working days lost to labour disputes.
Total actual weekly hours worked decreased on the quarter, and are still below pre-pandemic levels.
The redundancy rate increased on the quarter but is below pre-pandemic rates.
Source: ONS (Office For National Statistics)
