UK employment falls for first time since aftermath of Brexit vote
Commodity price driven inflation which is likely to make more interest rate rises punitive for those of limited means now accompanied by the start of a drop off in employment – confirmed as a possible trend by a decline in unfilled jobs – all makes me nervous about the future economically. Worth remembering that its less than 18 months since we voted to leave the EU….
Signs that Britain’s long employment boom has come to an end emerged on Wednesday as official figures showed a drop in the number of people in work, a fall in full-time employment and a decline in the number of job vacancies.
After a record-breaking run, the The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported the first fall in employment since the immediate aftermath of last year’s Brexit vote.
The ONS said the number of people employed had fallen by 14,000 in the three months to September to just over 32 million.
While the number of people in work was still up by 279,000 on a year ago, the ONS said it was the first fall since the slight reduction in the quarter ending in October 2016 and the biggest drop since the April to June period of 2015. The employment rate was cut from 75.1% to 75%.
Further evidence of a weaker labour market came from a fall in job vacancies, a 29,000 decline in the number of full-time jobs and an increase in the number of part-time workers saying that they would like to have full-time employment.