Slowly but surely, the labour market in the UK appears to be cooling down. Data from the Office for National Statistics this morning shows the number of job vacancies across the economy fell by another 58,000 between July to September, taking the total figure to an estimated 957,000. This is still far above pre-pandemic levels, but the number has been dropping constantly, and is down again for a sixteenth consecutive period. Meanwhile, both the UK’s unemployment figure and inactivity figure have remained ‘largely unchanged on the quarter’: sitting at 4.2 and 20.9 per cent, respectively.
This bodes well for an economy that is trying to dodge the dreaded label of ‘stagflation’. The UK is experiencing virtually no growth, but at least, for now, its unemployment rate remains historically low. The figures come a day ahead of the next monthly inflation update, which markets are hopeful will see another slow down.
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