April 20, 2023
The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.8% in December 2022 to February 2023, 0.2 percentage points higher than September to November 2022. The increase in employment over the latest three-month period was driven by part-time employees and self-employed workers.
The timeliest estimate of payrolled employees for March 2023 shows another monthly increase, up 31,000 on the revised February 2023 figures, to 30.0 million.
The unemployment rate for December 2022 to February 2023 increased by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter to 3.8%. The increase in unemployment was driven by people unemployed for up to six months.
The economic inactivity rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points on the quarter, to 21.1% in December 2022 to February 2023. The decrease in economic inactivity during the latest three-month period was largely driven by people aged 16 to 24 years. Looking at economic inactivity by reason, the quarterly decrease was largely driven by people inactive because they are students.
In January to March 2023, the estimated number of vacancies fell by 47,000 on the quarter to 1,105,000. Vacancies fell on the quarter for the ninth consecutive period and reflect uncertainty across industries, as survey respondents continue to cite economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment.
Growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 5.9% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 6.6% among employees in December 2022 to February 2023. Average regular pay growth for the private sector was 6.9% in December 2022 to February 2023 and 5.3% for the public sector. The difference between the private and public sector growth rates has narrowed in recent months. In real terms (adjusted for inflation), growth in total and regular pay fell on the year in December 2022 to February 2023, by 3.0% for total pay and by 2.3% for regular pay. A larger fall on the year for real total pay was last seen in February to April 2009, when it fell by 4.5%, but it still remains among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
There were 348,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in February 2023, up from 210,000 in January 2023. Over three-fifths of the strikes in February were in the education sector.
Source: Office for National Statistics
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