UK employment falls to 32 million, marking the biggest fall in the last two years.
UK employment fell in the three months to September, down 14,000 from the previous quarter, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed.
Wages rose marginally by 2.2 percent per year in July-September, which failed the counter-act the rise in inflation levels. Meanwhile, pay inclusive of bonuses also grew by 2.2 percent.
Conversely, inflation hit 2.7 percent in August, rising to 3 percent during the September and October months.
Overall, average weekly earnings in real terms, taking into account inflation, dipped by 0.4 percent compared with the year previously, according to the ONS.
Matt Hughes, a senior ONS statistician, noted that employment had fallen after two years of “almost uninterrupted growth”.
He continued: “But there was a rise in the number of people who were neither working nor looking for a job – so-called economically inactive people.”
Meanwhile, the U.K’s unemployment rate remains at a 42-year low of just 4.3 percent.
Unemployment fell to 59,000 between July and September to 1.42 million, the Office for National Statistics said.
This marked a fall in the number in work of 14,000, denoting the first decline in over a year.
Geraint Johnes, Research Director at the Work Foundation and Professor of Economics at Lancaster University Management School, commented:
“The latest labour market statistics show unemployment continuing to fall – by some 59000 between the second and third quarters of this year. The unemployment rate now stands at 4.3%.
The most recent fall, however, is due largely to a large increase in the number of people deemed economically inactive.
After an initial bounce, the pound fell half a cent against the dollar to $1.3151 amid news of the figures.
Similarly, the sterling dipped 0.5 per cent against the euro, to €1.1105.
The latest economic figures follow news of potential rebellions from conservative MP’s over Prime Minister’s May’s move to formalise the date of the completion of Brexit 29 March 2019.