UK Labour Market Overview: November 2024

Summary of Employment Statistics

The Office For National Statistics (ONS) published the latest labour market report last month.  Our overviews looks at employment, unemployment, economic inactivity, and related labour market metrics in the UK*.

Key Highlights:

Employment Trends

  • Payrolled Employees:

    • Between August and September 2024, the number of payrolled employees decreased by 9,000 (0.0%).

    • From September 2023 to September 2024, payrolled employees increased by 136,000 (0.4%).

    • When comparing July to September 2024 with the same period last year, payrolled employees rose by 182,000 (0.6%), despite a quarterly decline of 9,000 (0.0%).

  • October 2024 Preliminary Estimate: Payrolled employees fell by 5,000 (0.0%) month-on-month but grew by 95,000 (0.3%) year-on-year, reaching a total of 30.4 million. This estimate is provisional and subject to revision.

Labour Force Estimates

  • Employment Rate:

    • For those aged 16 to 64, the employment rate was 74.8% in July to September 2024, largely unchanged from a year ago but slightly higher compared to the previous quarter.

  • Unemployment Rate:

    • For individuals aged 16 and over, the unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in July to September 2024, an increase from the same period last year and the previous quarter.

  • Economic Inactivity Rate:

    • Among those aged 16 to 64, the inactivity rate dropped to 21.8% in July to September 2024, lower than both the previous quarter and year.

Additional Indicators

  • Claimant Count:

    • The number of individuals claiming unemployment-related benefits in October 2024 rose to 1.806 million, increasing both monthly and annually.

  • Vacancies:

    • Estimated vacancies declined by 35,000 between August and October 2024, reaching 831,000. This marks the 28th consecutive quarterly decrease, although vacancy levels remain above pre-pandemic benchmarks.

Earnings and Real Pay

  • Average Earnings Growth:

    • Regular pay (excluding bonuses) saw an annual growth of 4.8% in July to September 2024, while total pay (including bonuses) grew by 4.3%. These figures reflect the impact of one-off civil service payments in mid-2023.

  • Inflation-Adjusted Earnings Growth:

    • Real pay, adjusted for inflation using CPIH, grew by 1.9% for regular earnings and 1.4% for total pay during the same period.

Labour Disputes

  • In September 2024, an estimated 48,000 working days were lost due to industrial disputes.

* Data Usage Note

Due to increased volatility in Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, changes should be interpreted cautiously. For a comprehensive view, these estimates should be considered alongside data from Workforce Jobs (WFJ), the Claimant Count, and PAYE Real Time Information (RTI).

Source: ONS

Labour market report Nov 2024
Mascolo & Styles