Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Record number of Brits return to workforce but inflation continues to wipe out pay growth

by May 16, 2023
May 16, 2023
Record number of Brits return to workforce but inflation continues to wipe out pay growth

A record number of Brits are returning to the workforce in a sign that labour shortages that have held back economic growth and pushed up inflation are starting to unwind, official figures out today show.

A net 251,000 people flowed out of economic inactivity in the three months to March compared to the previous quarter, the highest total the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recorded since it started monitoring the data.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Britain has been grappling with an unusual increase in people dropping out of the jobs market altogether. Other countries in the G7 have registered increases in worker participation.

Economic activity – which refers to people out of the job and not looking for one – has jumped since the start of the virus and the ONS said today the rate was up 0.8 percentage points over the same period.

Experts have identified several reasons for the spike in idleness, including long-term sickness possibly related to patients being unable to receive routine care as a result of the enormous NHS backlog.

The ONS said the volume of people within the economic inactivity cohort due to persistent sickness climbed to a record high last quarter.

There has also been a jump in older workers taking early retirement and a rise in the student population, each of which have raised economic inactivity rates.

Within the ONS’s figures, there are signs companies are responding to the UK’s economic slow down by trimming staff to shore up their finances.

“The number of people on employers’ payrolls fell in April for the first time in over two years,” Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said.

Over the last month, payrolled workers – which is tracked using more up-to-date HMRC numbers – fell 136,000.

Britain’s unemployment rate nudged higher to 3.9 per cent, although that is still historically low.

Workers’ living standards continue to be crimped by inflation, which has raged all year and is still running high at 10.1 per cent.

“Growth in total and regular pay fell in real terms (adjusted for inflation) on the year in January to March 2023, by three per cent  for total pay and two per cent for regular pay,” the ONS said.

Read more:
Record number of Brits return to workforce but inflation continues to wipe out pay growth

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Cybersecurity specialist RiverSafe announces expansion plans as revenue surges by 400%
next post
Royal Mail could face fine as regulator looks into late deliveries

You may also like

Dyson family, Gym Shark founder and Sting among...

January 27, 2023

Pollution Reduction Strategies for Businesses: Victoria Gerrard La...

June 10, 2024

Business groups welcome plans to speed up planning...

July 27, 2023

Interest rates won’t be cut until 2026, predicts...

December 11, 2023

More than a million work days lost to...

January 3, 2023

Former environment secretary urges successor not to drop...

October 4, 2022

Starmer installs non-political ministers in ‘government of all...

July 7, 2024

Ikea supports 140 refugees through skills for employment...

June 20, 2023

Three-quarters of UK businesses struggling to source staff,...

October 9, 2023

Reeves to reveal £19bn financial gap amid tax...

July 26, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Blue state Republicans threaten rebellion if Senate changes key provision in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 5, 2025
    • Ricketts, Fetterman team up for crackdown on China’s attempts to purchase US farmland

      June 5, 2025
    • Hamas working to ‘sabotage’ Trump-backed aid group with ‘fake news’: Israeli official

      June 5, 2025
    • Longtime Trump loyalist flips on GOP’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 5, 2025
    • Supreme Court rules Wisconsin unconstitutionally discriminated against Christian charity

      June 5, 2025
    • Trump touts ‘very positive’ breakthrough with Xi after slamming China for trade violation

      June 5, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,147)
    • Investing (2,008)
    • Politics (15,529)
    • Stocks (3,128)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved