Labour market indicators

Signs of a cooling labour market could be detected in data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in September: a reduced employment rate (75.5%, down by half of a percentage point); an increased unemployment rate (4.3%, up by half a percentage points); and vacancies finally falling below the one million mark.

At 989,000, there were still a lot of employers looking for workers. But altogether, there were 64,000 fewer openings than in the previous quarter.

The reported fall in overall employment was mainly driven by full-time self-employed workers, the ONS said, while the rise in unemployment coincided with a slight increase in “economic inactivity” (those inactive because of long-term sickness increased to another record high).

However, the August estimate for payrolled employees was largely unchanged.

Against these trends, annual growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) remained at 7.8% for the year to July, helping to maintain the highest growth rate since comparable records began in 2001.

The latest rise in total pay was 8.1% (including bonus payments). It was 10.5% in the public sector (after 19.8% for the year to June), including NHS and civil service one-off payments, and 7.5% in the private sector.