Number of people in employment is the highest it’s ever been

Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) director of policy Tom Hadley said on Tuesday 15th May:

“Candidates are now in a better position, if moving jobs there is a strong chance of getting a pay rise. Businesses want to grow and with employment rates high they are having to compete with each other to attract people. Our data shows that one way they are making themselves more attractive is by offering higher starting pay for new recruits.

“There are plenty of jobs out there for candidates with high in-demand skills in sectors ranging from education to hospitality. We simply don’t have the number of people in this country to fill the vacancies businesses are creating. If the government wants to boost economic growth businesses need to be able to continue to attract and recruit workers from the EU.”

Highlights from the ONS Statistical bulletin January to March 2018 include:

• Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between October to December 2017 and January to March 2018, the number of people in work increased, the number of unemployed people decreased, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 years not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) also decreased.
• There were 32.34 million people in work, 197,000 more than for October to December 2017 and 396,000 more than for a year earlier.
• The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 years who were in work) was 75.6%, higher than for a year earlier (74.8%) and the highest since comparable records began in 1971.
• There were 1.42 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 46,000 fewer than for October to December 2017 and 116,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

Full data is available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/may2018