Rise in employment starts to slow down, data from the ONS can reveal

The significant growth in employment experienced across the UK for the past year has started to stall, as official figures released by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) can reveal a small dip in the number of people in work for the the three months leading to June 2015.

For the aforementioned time period, there were 31.03 million people in work, 63,000 fewer than for January to March 2015 but 354,000 more than for a year earlier. Out of the total number of people in work, 22.76 million people were working full-time, 352,000 more than for a year earlier, while 8.27 million people were working part-time, little changed compared with a year earlier.

The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 73.4%, little changed compared with January to March 2015 but higher than for a year earlier (72.8%).

There were 1.85 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 25,000 more than for January to March 2015 but 221,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

The unemployment rate was 5.6%, little changed compared with January to March 2015 but lower than for a year earlier (6.3%).

Furthermore, there were 8.99 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), little changed compared with January to March 2015 and with a year earlier.

The inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive) was 22.1%, little changed compared with January to March 2015 and with a year earlier.

Comparing April to June 2015 with a year earlier, pay for employees in Great Britain increased by 2.4% including bonuses and by 2.8% excluding bonuses.

Gerwyn Davies, labour market adviser at the CIPD, said the figures suggested “the labour market may be at least pausing for breath with a modest fall in the number of people in work following a sharp acceleration over the past year”.

He added: „It’s interesting that the employment rate for young people continues to ride high compared with recent years. This suggests that more employers are responding to a tight jobs market by turning to a wider pool of young people to offset the threat of future labour shortages and pay pressures.”