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The UK shows ‘continuing’ recovery in the labour market, with employment continuing to rise, according to the ONS latest Labour Force Survey estimates for September to November 2021.
It revealed in December 2021 there were 29.5 million employees in the UK, up 184,000 on the revised November 2021 level and up 409,000 on the pre-coronavirus February 2020 level.
The UK employment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 75.5%, driven by the increase of part-time workers in the latest three-month period.
The ONS also reported the unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points on the quarter to 4.1%, while the economic inactivity rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 21.3%.
The firm said the number of job vacancies in October to December 2021 rose to a new record of 1,247,000, however, the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down.
Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “The number of employees on payrolls continued to grow strongly in December, with the total now well above pre-pandemic levels … In the three months to November, the unemployment rate fell back almost to where it was before Covid-19 hit.”
