Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- UK payrolls back to pre-pandemic levels in August
- More than one million vacancies
- But end to furlough scheme looms…
- Average total pay up 8.3% per year in last quarter
- But triple lock suspension means pensioners won’t benefit
Every sector of the UK economy has posted more job vacancies over the last quarter, with transport companies, and bars, restaurants and hotels, among the areas struggling the most.
The record total of vacancies (over 1 million) meant there were 3.4 vacancies for every 100 employee jobs, also a record high.
The fastest rate of growth was seen in other service activities, which grew by 93.3% (12,500), followed by transport and storage at 76.3% (20,300) and accommodation and food service activities at 75.4% (57,600).
In the latter two categories labour demand has increased rapidly while staff availability fell because of a mix of employees leaving these sectors to find employment elsewhere and a reluctance of workers to return to their previous roles.
Today’s jobs figures are a ‘milestone’ in the recovery, says Learning and Work Institute’s chief executive, Stephen Evans.
But he also points out that total employment, on the Labour Force Survey, is still below its pre-pandemic levels — and that long-term unemployment (those out of work for at least a year) is rising.
“We’ve reached a milestone moment, with payroll employment back at pre-pandemic levels and more than one million vacancies. This is undoubtedly positive but scratch below the surface and you see months if not years of recovery still ahead. Employment is still more than 700,000 down on the wider survey measure and long-term unemployment is up 45%.
With more than a million people still furloughed ahead of the scheme’s closure at the end of this month, we need to ramp up support for people to find work. This is particularly true of both young people, who were more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic, and older people, who are now more likely to still be furloughed.”
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