Record number of people in work as employment surges to pre-Covid levels

[L.A.T.1961]

A record number of Britons are in work as company payrolls surged by more than 120,000 above pre-pandemic levels, according to official data.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of payrolled workers rose by 207,000 between August and September to a record 29.2 million.

This was 122,000 workers higher than levels seen before before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in February 2020.

There was also a record jump in September as vacancies remained above one million for the second month running, according to the ONS.

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-10-12/record-number-of-people-in-work-as-employment-surges-to-pre-covid-levels

[+ouija ouija]

UK job vacancies reach 20-year high

The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, compared with a rate of 4% before the pandemic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58881124

So which is it?

[Eldorado]

• The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.3%, 1.3 percentage points lower than before the coronavirus pandemic (December 2019 to February 2020), but 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter (March to May 2021).

• The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, 0.5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic, but 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.

Office for National Statistics; October 2021

Edited October 12, 2021 by Eldorado

[L.A.T.1961]

2 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

UK job vacancies reach 20-year high

The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, compared with a rate of 4% before the pandemic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58881124

So which is it?

Job vacancies are not the same as the unemployment rate. The economy could generate more jobs than there are unemployed to fill the vacancies.

Changes in percentages of unemployed could be affected by a population increase? The UK averages around 250,000 net immigration every year. 

 

[Eldorado]

Migration to and from the UK

In the year ending March 2020, long-term international migration continued to add to the UK population. Our current best estimates show that around 313,000 more people moved to the UK with an intention to stay for 12 months or more than left the UK (net migration).

Office for National Statistics

[The Silver Shroud]

9 hours ago, Eldorado said:

• The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.3%, 1.3 percentage points lower than before the coronavirus pandemic (December 2019 to February 2020), but 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter (March to May 2021).

• The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, 0.5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic, but 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.

Office for National Statistics; October 2021

We have massive vacancies everywhere, most noticably HGV drivers, but also in agriculture and in social care:

Care staff shortage worse than before pandemic, study shows - BBC News

Edited October 13, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[Eldorado]

The government is to allow 800 foreign abattoir workers into the UK on temporary visas, after warnings from farmers of mass culls.

It previously said businesses should pay higher wages and invest in skills.

The shortage of butchers has already seen farmers destroy 6,600 healthy pigs due to a backlog on farms, the National Pig Association (NPA) said.

The government also announced plans to allow thousands more HGV deliveries to address a chronic driver shortage.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58906114

[Eldorado]

The military will be drafted in to hospitals in Lanarkshire and the Borders to relieve pressure ahead of the winter.

A total of 86 personnel will be deployed - 63 to NHS Lanarkshire and 23 to NHS Borders - ranging from nurses, medics, general troops and drivers.

Support personnel will be from the navy but the medically qualified staff will be from the Army.

All will be working in areas like accident and emergency.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-58929682

[Eldorado]

A near-1m decline in the number of available workers during the pandemic is fuelling widespread staff shortages, new research has revealed, as record numbers of vacancies stifle the economic recovery.

The Learning and Work Institute warned that shortages may last years after an exodus of foreign-born workers and others leaving the labour market by retiring, for example.

Its findings suggest there are 900,000 fewer potential workers if pre-pandemic trends had continued - equivalent to 2pc of the UK’s working age population.

Daily Telegraph report at MSN