June Labour Market Statistics: Comment from the Institute for Employment Studies
13 Jun 2023
Commenting on today's figures, Tony Wilson, Director at the Institute for Employment Studies said:
“Today’s jobs figures are broadly positive, with the level of employment finally back to where it was on the eve of the pandemic and with working hours also returning to pre-Covid levels. Pay growth was also exceptionally strong at over 7% for regular pay. Nonetheless, there are clear signs that weak labour supply is holding back growth, with more than a million vacancies still unfilled, unemployment below 4% and and nearly 1.8 million people outside of the labour force who want to work. This includes half a million more older people and nearly half a million more with long-term health conditions than before the pandemic began. So we need to do far more to raise participation in work and support growth, rather than just raising interest rates to dampen the recovery.”
Read the detailed IES Labour Market Statistics briefing note here.