The unemployment rate in Britain remained at 4.7 percent in the three months to the end of June, the highest in four years. This was reported today in a report by the British Office for National Statistics. Year-on-year, the unemployment rate is 0.7 percentage points higher, and quarter-on-quarter it is 0.1 percentage points higher.
Number of employees
The unemployment rate had already reached 4.7 percent in the three months to the end of May. It was last this high in the three months to the end of June 2021. According to preliminary figures, the number of employees fell by 8,000 in July. After refining the data, the office reduced the decline for June from 41,000 to 26,000. Employment in Britain fell for the sixth month in a row.
The number of job vacancies fell by 44,000 to 718,000 in the three months to July. According to the office, this is the lowest number since the period ending April 2021.
Bankers
Annual growth in average regular earnings in the UK in the three months to June was 5 percent, with total earnings including bonuses up 4.6 percent. Regular earnings rose by 5.7 percent in the public sector and 4.8 percent in the private sector. “Both figures show a generally positive trend,” statisticians said.
The Bank of England cut its base interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.00 percent at its meeting last week. However, the vote was close, with four of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voting to leave borrowing costs unchanged. Central bankers disagree on the risks of a slowdown in new hiring and rising inflationary pressures, Reuters reported.
Source: ČTK
