UK unemployment rate increases to 3.6%

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – Unemployment in Britain increased to 3.6% in the three months to September, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Adjusted for inflation over the year, total pay fell in real terms by 2.6%, and regular pay declined 2.7%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

“The proportion of people neither working nor looking for work has risen again,” said Darren Morgan, director of labor and economic statistics at the ONS.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, this shift has largely been caused by older workers leaving the labor market altogether, but in the most recent quarter, the main contribution has actually come from younger groups.”

He added that over half a million working days were lost to strikes in August and September, the highest two-month total in more than a decade, with the transport and communications sectors being particularly restive.

“Job vacancies continue to fall back from their recent peak, with increasing numbers of employers now telling us that economic pressures are a factor in their decision to hold back on recruitment,” Morgan said.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, said unemployment in the UK “remains near record lows.”

“But I appreciate that people’s hard-earned money isn’t going as far as it should. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal war has driven up inflation – a hidden and insidious tax that is eating into paychecks and savings,” he said.

“Tackling inflation is my absolute priority and that guides the difficult decisions on tax and spending we will make on Thursday. Restoring stability and getting debt falling is our only option to reduce inflation and limit interest rate rises.”

Rachel Reeves, the opposition Labour Party’s shadow chancellor, said the latest wage figures showed the impact of “12 years of Tory (Conservative) economic mistakes and low growth.”

The Bank of England recently warned that Britain was facing its longest recession since records began, and expects it to last until the middle of 2024.