World

Unemployment rate in the UK hits historic low

Name: London Fashion Week
Start: 2025-06-12
End: 2025-06-15
Location: London Fashion Week

Jun 20, 2022 United Kingdom

Unemployment rate in the UK hits historic low

This was revealed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The UK unemployment rate is now close to a 50-year low point, having dropped by 0.2% to 3.8% for February to April 2022

According to the same source, the economic inactivity rate also decreased by 0.1% to 21.3% in the quarter. The number of job vacancies in March to May 2022 also rose to a new record of 1 300 000, and the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down. ONS also revealed that those unemployed for between 6 and 12 months also decreased to a “record low”, and those unemployed for over 12 months continued to decrease.

Meanwhile, the UK employment rate increased by 0.2% in the quarter to 75.6%, although this is still below pre-Covid levels. All in all, the number of full-time employees increased over the quarter to a “record high”, which was partially offset by a decrease in the number of part-time employees.

“Today’s figures continue to show a mixed picture for the labour market. While the number of people in employment is up again in the three months to April, the figure remains below pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, unemployment is close to a 50-year low point and there was a record low number of redundancies. Job vacancies are still slowly rising, too. At a new record level of 1.3 million, this is over half a million more than before the onset of the pandemic", commented Sam Beckett, ONS Head of Economic Statistics. "The high level of bonuses continues to cushion the effects of rising prices on total earnings for some workers, but if you exclude bonuses, pay in real terms is falling at its fastest rate in over a decade”, she concluded.