Number of Brits in work now “well above” pre-pandemic level

THE number of people in work has hit a fresh record high as Brits on payrolls increased by 160,000. It brings the total UK workers to 29.3million between September and October, new figures reveal. The rate of unemployment has fallen again to 4.3% for the from July to September, the data from the the Office […]

THE number of people in work has hit a fresh record high as Brits on payrolls increased by 160,000.

It brings the total UK workers to 29.3million between September and October, new figures reveal.

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More people are in work despite the end of the furlough scheme[/caption]

The rate of unemployment has fallen again to 4.3% for the from July to September, the data from the the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

That’s down from 4.5% in the three months to August, according to figures last month.

The number of job vacancies is at 1.3million in October.

It comes after separate data revealed that the end of the furlough scheme which had fewer redundancies than expected.

Wage support through the government scheme ended on September 30 after several extensions through the coronavirus pandemic.

Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: “It might take a few months to see the full impact of furlough coming to an end, as people who lost their jobs at the end of September could still be receiving redundancy pay.

“However, October’s early estimate shows the number of people on the payroll rose strongly on the month and stands well above its pre-pandemic level.”

She added: “There is also no sign of an upturn in redundancies and businesses tell us that only a very small proportion of their previously furloughed staff have been laid off.

“In addition, vacancies again reached a new record high.”

More to follow…

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