Job vacancies in the UK have reached another record high, according to official figures
Between September and November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found 1.22 million openings during the three months.
This is 434,500 higher than pre-pandemic levels. But Darren Morgan from the ONS says the growth is slowing:
“While job vacancies continue at record levels, the number is not growing as fast as it did earlier this year.”
Overall unemployment has reduced, as more young people and part time workers get into work.
Darren Morgan said: “Survey findings show much of the recent growth in employment has been among part-timers, who were particularly hard hit at the start of the pandemic.
He added that the end of the furlough scheme did not seem to have impacted jobs: “The total of employees on payroll continued to grow strongly in November, although it could include people recently made redundant but still working out their notice.
UK bosses gave 257,000 workers jobs in November, after the end of the furlough scheme.
Drop in redundancy
The ONS report found unemployment fell to 4.2 percent in the three months to October – down from 4.3 percent the month before.
In recent months, vacancies have gone up, as the UK recovers from the lockdowns, and this has also see a drop in redundancies.
However, figures released this week show economic growth began to stutter in October, before the Omicron variant emerged.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The jobs outlook remains strong thanks to our £400bn economic support package, Plan for Jobs.”
He also commended the country’s vaccine programme, calling on the nation to get boosted to keep the economy growing.
Feyaza Khan has been a journalist for more than 20 years in print and broadcast. Her special interests include neurodiversity in the workplace, tech, diversity, trauma and wellbeing.
