Full picture of jobs yet to emerge

A picture of what happened when furlough ended is starting to take shape in Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

The ONS says its business survey suggests the number being made redundant “was likely to be a small share of those still on furlough at the end of September 2021”.

However, among the 29.3 million pay-rolled employees (up by 160,000 since September, 235,000 since February 2020) there could be people being made redundant who were still working out their notice.

Data released in November suggest the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 4.3% and the employment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 75.4%. Economic inactivity remained unchanged at 21.1%.

But behind those percentages there appears to be a lot of movement with people getting new but possibly more precarious jobs. “The quarterly increase in employment was driven by a record high net flow from unemployment to employment,” said the ONS.

“Total job-to-job moves also increased to a record high, largely driven by resignations rather than dismissals, during the July to September 2021 period.

“The rise is also driven by an increase in part-time work and an increase in the number of people on zero-hour contracts, driven by young people”.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/november2021