ONS Labour Market April 2022

Vacancies keep rising

The number of Job vacancies reached another record high of 1,288,000 in the three months to March 2022. This marked an increase of 492,400 from pre-pandemic levels (Jan-Mar 2020).
However, the rate of growth in vacancies slowed for the eighth consecutive period, rising 4.1%, the lowest since June to August 2020.
By industry, the largest increase in vacancies came from human health and social work (13,100).

Payrolled employees at record high

Early payroll estimates for March show the number of payrolled employees rose by 4.9% year-on-year to 29.6 million. This is up 544,000 on the pre-Covid level, with the number of payrolled employees up by 1.9% since February 2020.
All age groups saw an increase in payrolled employees between March 2021 and March 2022; there was an increase of 585,000 payrolled employees aged under 25 years.
The largest yearly increase in payrolled employees continued to be in accommodation and food services (+374,000 employees) and smallest in the finance and insurance sector (+1,000).

Number of vacancies in the UK, seasonally adjusted, January to March 2003 to January to March 2022

Source: Office for National Statistics

Near-record low unemployment

The latest unemployment estimates show a 0.2pp drop on the previous three-month period to 3.8%, this was 0.1pp below pre-pandemic levels.
Compared to the previous quarter, the economic inactivity rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 21.4%.
During the last three-month period, there was a decrease in the inactivity rate for young people (those aged 16 to 24 years).

Employment rate flat

The employment rate was largely unchanged at 75.5%, 1.1 percentage points (pp) down on pre-pandemic levels.
The number of full-time employees increased on the quarter; however this was offset by a decrease in part-time employees.

Rise in hours worked

In the three months to February, total actual weekly hours worked increased by 18.8 million hours compared with the previous three-month period to 1.04 billion hours.
This is still 14.6 million hours below pre-coronavirus levels (December 2019 to February 2020).

Inflation outpaces earnings

Annual pay edged higher in the three months to February but remains below inflation.

In nominal terms, average regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £556 per week before tax and other deductions from pay – up from £535 per week a year earlier.
Average total pay (including bonuses) for employees in Great Britain was £598 per week before tax and other deductions from pay – up from £567 per week a year earlier.
Regular and total pay growth rose by 4.0% and 5.4% respectively in the three months to February compared to a year earlier.
In real terms (adjusted for inflation), total pay rose just 0.4% in the three months to February, while regular pay declined 1.0% over the period.

Average weekly earnings annual growth rates in Great Britain, seasonally adjusted, February 2005 to February 2022

Source: ONS