Although they are still above pandemic levels, vacancies decreased on the quarter for the 28th consecutive period according to the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Market Overview, UK: November 2024.

The latest bulletin also shows that pay rises are continuing to slow, with average regular weekly earnings in July–September 2024 growing by 4.8% in the private sector (down from 5.3% in the previous quarter) and by 4.7% in the public sector (down from 6%).

Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, Ben Harrison, said: “If the UK Government is to meet its intended 80% employment rate, it must act to address the high levels of long-term sickness that are keeping too many people out of the jobs market. Despite unemployment being at historically low levels, the UK has had over 2.7 million people out of the labour market due to long-term sickness since May–July 2023.”

Jane Gratton, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), chose to focus on the problem of increasing costs for businesses and its own research, which shows that over 75% of SMEs are still struggling to find staff with the skills they need. 

“We need urgent action to drive growth, tackle the skills crisis, boost workforce health and reduce inactivity in the labour market,” she concluded.

The TUC pointed to long-term youth unemployment, which is now at a post-pandemic high and still rising and warned that young people urgently need genuine opportunities to work or engage in training.

It also noted that there are now 1.13 million people on zero-hours contracts.

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