KYIV (Parliament politics Magazine) – For the first time, there are now more open jobs than jobless individuals in the UK. During January and March, the unemploment rate decreased to 3.7 percent, the least in over 50 years, while job vacancies reached 1.3 million. Wages, excluding bonuses, have not kept up with increasing prices, an issue that is likely to deepen as food and oil prices rise.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the results present “a mixed picture.”
“Despite employment continuing to rise, today’s figures underline the challenges facing workers who see inflation eat away at their living standards,” stated Ben Harrison, head of the Work Foundation thinks tank at Lancaster University.
Background:
The statistics noted that most persons switching from economic activity, defined as some of those aged 16 to 64 who have not been earning or looking for labor to employment, have increased.
Around the same moment, the number of persons changing jobs hit a new high, according to the ONS, “driven by resignations rather than dismissals.”
“Total employment, while up on the quarter, remains below its pre-pandemic level,” stated Darren Morgan, the ONS’ director of economic statistics.
“Since the start of the pandemic, around half a million more people have completely disengaged from the labour market,” he noted.
“However, job vacancies are still rising, reaching yet another record high.”
- The head of the bank issued an “apocalyptic” alert about food costs.
- With rates of interest climb, economists are predicting an economic slump.
Buddy Love, who manages the Flying Fish pub, restaurant, and hotel in Somerset with his wife Kate, described the scenario as “a nightmare.”
Mr. Love claimed it took him six weeks and £2,000 in job ads to locate a private chef for his restaurant and that word of mouth, instead of any advertising, brought him the ideal applicant.
Earnings:
Income, excluding incentives, increased by 4.2 percent from January to March, but not fast enough to catch up with growing living costs, which reached 7% in March and are projected to rise further.
When accounting for inflation and bonuses, compensation fell by 1.2 percent, the most since 2013. According to the ONS, incentive payments benefited certain industries, such as manufacturing and banking, since employers increased wages to attract workers. Between January and March, overall compensation, including bonuses, increased by 7%, keeping up with inflation.
“Continued strong bonuses in some sectors such as construction and especially finance mean that total pay is continuing to grow faster than prices on average, but underlying regular earnings are now falling sharply.” Mr. Morgan added.
These graphs tell the story of three different employment markets. The jobless rate has fallen to its lowest level in nearly half a century, indicating that the economy has fully recovered from the pandemic’s devastation and the safeguards put in place throughout the last two years.
Yet, when accounting for rising inflation, compensation for many millions of workers declined by the most in almost nine years, and this trend is expected to continue. Then there were the firms looking for labor, which saw a new high of over 1.3 million job openings. It reflects a shrinking workforce due to post-Brexit labor laws, elderly employees leaving during the epidemic, and an increase in long-term disease.
They are a remarkably excellent set of numbers, given the pandemic’s impact. However, they do not yet indicate the effect of the continued rising economic strain, except for real income numbers.
Moreover, the impact on the consumer purchasing power is so severe that the Bank of England and others believe the economy is entering a downturn, with unemployment rising by hundreds of millions. The government intends to fill these slots with as many unemployed people as possible. The danger is that the black clouds of inflation will overrun this scenario.
Pay has been falling behind the living costs for many months, as oil, electricity, and food costs have risen owing to the epidemic and the conflict in Ukraine.
According to official figures released on Wednesday, the living costs are likely to climb sharply in April, following last month’s increase in the energy price ceiling.
The Bank of England cautioned earlier that the price squeeze is threatening to push the UK into crisis, with inflation expected to reach over 10% later this year but the employment market faltering.