Number of Brits on payrolls accelerates as close to 30m are in employment
The UK job market continued its recovery as the number of payrolled workers jumped last month but wages have continued to lag behind soaring inflation, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics said this morning that the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 108,000 between December and January to 29.5m.
The unemployment rate also reduced by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1% over the three months to December.
This was in line with the predictions from a consensus of analysts.
Meanwhile, total pay growth rose to 4.3% for the quarter to December – from 4.2% for the three months to November – but continued to lag behind inflation, which soared to a near 30-year high of 5.4% in December.
Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The number of employees on payrolls rose again in January 2022 and is now well above pre-pandemic levels.
“However, our Labour Force Survey shows the number of people in employment overall is well below where it was before Covid-19 hit.
“This is because there are now far fewer self-employed people.
“The survey also shows that unemployment has fallen again and is now only fractionally above where it was before the pandemic.”