(Alliance News) - The UK unemployment rate edged down again as data pointed to a continued recovery in the labour market, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate for the three months to April was 4.7%, down from 4.8% for the three months to March. This was in line with market expectations, according to FXStreet. The jobless rate started 2021 at 5%.
Meanwhile, redundancies returned to pre-pandemic levels. The redundancy rate decreased by a record 7.1 per thousand employees on the quarter to 4.0 per thousand employees, similar to pre-virus levels.
This labour market recovery appears to have extended into May. The number of payrolled employees has increased for the sixth consecutive month, the ONS said, up by 197,000 in May to 28.5 million.
However, this remains 553,000 below pre-virus levels.
The number of job vacancies in the three months to May was 758,000, only 27,000 below its pre-pandemic level. The ONS noted that most industries have recovered to show vacancies above pre-virus levels, with the strongest quarterly increase in accommodation and food services.
"The number of employees on payroll grew strongly in May, up by almost 200,000, although it is still over half a million down since the pandemic struck," said Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics.
"Job vacancies continued to recover in the spring, and our early estimates suggest that by May the total had surpassed its pre-pandemic level, with strong growth in sectors such as hospitality," Beckett added. "Meanwhile the redundancy rate remains subdued, while the number of employees on furlough has continued to decline."
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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