UK – The 18-64 year age employment rate is at a record high

The 18-64 year age employment rate is at a record high

The labour market data continue to show an extraordinary mix of very strong job growth and falling real wages:

• The number of people in work rose by 345K (1.1%) QoQ and 780K (2.6% YoY) in Feb-April, the highest QoQ gain in employment since data began 40 years ago. YoY job growth is the highest since 1989. Moreover, the strength in employment does not reflect a drop in the average workweek: the average workweek is up 0.6% YoY, and hence the total number of hours worked is up 3.3% YoY, also the highest gain for 25 years.
• While self-employment continues to rise strongly (up 8% YoY), the more secure forms of employment also are buoyant: the number of full-time employees (ie, people in work, but not self-employed and working full-time) is up 2.4% YoY – a pace that has not been exceeded since 1998.
• The jobless total has fallen by 161K (0.6% of the workforce) over the last three months, the largest drop since 1998, with the jobless rate down by 1.2 percent over the last 12 months.
• Real wages (comparing average weekly earnings ex bonuses with CPI inflation) continue to fall, and have now fallen by a total of 8.2% over the last six years (ie comparing April 2014 with April 2008). By contrast, over the prior six years, real wages on this measure rose by 11.3%.
• The share of the working age population (16-64 years) in work (72.9%) is close to the record high (73.1%) set in 1974 and 2004-05. Moreover, this measure is affected by the reduced number of 16-17 year olds in work, because more stay on at school. The share of the population aged 18-64 years in work (74.8%) exceeds the previous peak (74.6%, in March-May 2008) and is the highest since data began in 1992. The UK’s employment rate (share of population aged 16-64 years in work) is now the second highest in the G7, although still some way short of the level in Germany.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The “Jobs Miracle” Continues 

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UK – Number of employed rose by a record 345,000, to 30.5 million, most of which are in full-time employment

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