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UK unemployment rate sticks at 4.9% after Brexit vote

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UK-employment-rise

Britain’s unemployment rate remained at an 11-year low following the Brexit vote, with the jobless rate holding steady at 4.9 per cent between February to April 2016 and May to July 2016

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics cover the first full month following the Brexit vote on June 23. The number of unemployed people and the number of people not working and not seeking or available to work has fell.

 

There were also 8.83 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive 92,000 fewer than for February to April 2016 and 195,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

Average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain increased by 2.3 per cent including bonuses and by 2.1 per cent excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.

However, Britain’s jobless benefits count, rose by 2,400 in August having fallen unexpectedly between June and July.

Britain’s employment rate also stayed at the highest level since comparable records began in 1971, holding at 74.5 per cent.

Average weekly earnings including bonuses rose by 2.3 per cent over the three months ending in July, better than the 2.1 per cent expected ahead of the release but slower than the 2.5 per cent growth recorded the previous month.

 

Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.

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