UK UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO 4.7% AMID RISE IN VACANCIES

Tue 17 August 2021:

UK Unemployment fell in June as workers made redundant during the pandemic appeared to respond to a record rise in vacancies to re-enter the labour market and secure a job.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday that unemployment in the United Kingdom fell to 4.7 percent from April to June, owing to a record increase in job openings.

“The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.7%, 0.8 percentage points higher than before the pandemic, but 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous quarter,” the ONS said in a statement.

Like other countries, the UK suffered an economic downturn in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic accompanied by lockdowns as well as disruption of the global economy. Since then, however, the country’s economy has been recovering as the vaccination drive expands and COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted.

According to the statistics agency, the country has also seen the highest number of open vacancies since 2001.

“In May to July 2021, there were an estimated 953,000 job vacancies, a record high, having grown by 43.

8% (290,000) compared with the previous quarter,” the ONS said in a different release, adding that all sectors have recorded growth this quarter.

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said: “Today’s figures show that our plan for jobs is working – saving people’s jobs and getting people back into work. I know there could still be bumps in the road but the data is promising – there are now more employees on payrolls than at any point since March 2020, and the number of people on furlough is the lowest since the scheme launched,.”

Separate figures for July from HMRC also pointed to a strong recovery in the labour market, even as almost 2 million people remained on furlough, after the number of payrolled employees increased by 182,000 to 28.9 million.

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