The UK’s unemployment rate increased
On Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics in the UK announced that the ILO Unemployment Rate inched up to 4.3% in the three months leading to March, from the previous 4.2%, meeting market forecasts.
Further insights from the job report indicated an increase of 8.9K in the Claimant Count Change, accompanied by a decrease of 177K in Employment Change for April. Additionally, Average Earnings Excluding Bonus showed a 6% rise (YoY) for the three months ending in March, while Average Earnings Including Bonus saw a 5.7% increase (YoY) over the same period.
The initial estimate of payrolled employees for April 2024 saw a decline of 85,000 (0.3%) compared to the previous month but showed an increase of 129,000 (0.4%) from the previous year, reaching 30.2 million. It’s important to note that the April 2024 estimate is provisional and is subject to revision as more data becomes available next month.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have exhibited increased volatility due to smaller achieved sample sizes, which necessitates exercising additional caution when interpreting quarterly changes. It’s advisable to utilize these estimates as part of a broader set of labor market indicators, including Workforce Jobs, Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.
The UK employment rate (for individuals aged 16 to 64 years) was estimated at 74.5% in the period from January to March 2024, showing a decrease compared to estimates from a year ago and a decline in the most recent quarter.
