[UK] More people on the payroll now than pre-pandemic

According to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of UK workers on company payrolls has leapt by more than 120,000 above pre-pandemic levels following a record jump in September when vacancies also remained above a million for the second month running, Surrey Live reports.

ONS said the number of payrolled workers rose by 207,000 between August and September, to a record 29.2 million.

This was reportedly 122,000 higher than levels stood prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.

The data also revealed another record quarterly leap in job vacancies, up by 1.1 million between July and September.

Additionally, the ONS said that Britain’s recovery in the jobs market saw the rate of unemployment fall further to 4.5 per cent between June and August.

Darren Morgan - director of economic statistics at the ONS - said, “The jobs market has continued to recover from the effects of the coronavirus, with the number of employees on payroll in September now well exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

“Vacancies also reached a new one-month record in September, at nearly 1.2 million, with our latest estimates suggesting that all industries have at least as many jobs on offer now as before the onset of COVID-19.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak responded to news of the latest jobs figures saying, “As we move to the next stage of our support, it’s encouraging to see our Plan for Jobs working; the number of expected redundancies remained very low in September, there are more employees on payrolls than ever before and the unemployment rate has fallen for eight months in a row.

“We remain committed to helping people find great work, with an extra £500 million to support hundreds of thousands back into employment and help the lowest-paid to progress in their careers.”

According to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of UK workers on company payrolls has leapt by more than 120,000 above pre-pandemic levels following a record jump in September when vacancies also remained above a million for the second month running, Surrey Live reports.

ONS said the number of payrolled workers rose by 207,000 between August and September, to a record 29.2 million.

This was reportedly 122,000 higher than levels stood prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.

The data also revealed another record quarterly leap in job vacancies, up by 1.1 million between July and September.

Additionally, the ONS said that Britain’s recovery in the jobs market saw the rate of unemployment fall further to 4.5 per cent between June and August.

Darren Morgan - director of economic statistics at the ONS - said, “The jobs market has continued to recover from the effects of the coronavirus, with the number of employees on payroll in September now well exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

“Vacancies also reached a new one-month record in September, at nearly 1.2 million, with our latest estimates suggesting that all industries have at least as many jobs on offer now as before the onset of COVID-19.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak responded to news of the latest jobs figures saying, “As we move to the next stage of our support, it’s encouraging to see our Plan for Jobs working; the number of expected redundancies remained very low in September, there are more employees on payrolls than ever before and the unemployment rate has fallen for eight months in a row.

“We remain committed to helping people find great work, with an extra £500 million to support hundreds of thousands back into employment and help the lowest-paid to progress in their careers.”