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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/15/uk-unemployment-record-low-private-sector-hiring-stall-self-employment
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Unemployment rate at record low despite stall in private sector hiring | Unemployment rate at record low despite stall in private sector hiring |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Unemployment dropped in April to its lowest level since 2005 as growth in Britain’s jobs market resumed after a lull in the spring. | Unemployment dropped in April to its lowest level since 2005 as growth in Britain’s jobs market resumed after a lull in the spring. |
| The unemployment rate fell to 5% from 5.1%, while the number of jobs in the economy jumped 55,000 from March to set a record high employment rate of 74.2%. | |
| Excluding bonuses, total pay rises nudged higher to 2.3% from 2.2% in the rolling three-month to three-month figures to April favoured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). | |
| Wages growth including bonuses was 2%, but jumped 2.5% in the more volatile month on month figure to April. City economists had pencilled in a fall in total wages growth to 1.7%. | Wages growth including bonuses was 2%, but jumped 2.5% in the more volatile month on month figure to April. City economists had pencilled in a fall in total wages growth to 1.7%. |
| Campaigners for Britain to leave the European Union were expected to claim the figures showed employers were relaxed about a Brexit vote, but John Philpott, director of the JobsEconomist, said the increase in the total number of people employed relied on a huge increase in self employment. | Campaigners for Britain to leave the European Union were expected to claim the figures showed employers were relaxed about a Brexit vote, but John Philpott, director of the JobsEconomist, said the increase in the total number of people employed relied on a huge increase in self employment. |
| “The UK private sector effectively stopped hiring in the spring. Employees account for just 5,000 of the 55,000 increase in total employment in the three months to April, almost all of which is due to a rise in self-employment,” he said. | “The UK private sector effectively stopped hiring in the spring. Employees account for just 5,000 of the 55,000 increase in total employment in the three months to April, almost all of which is due to a rise in self-employment,” he said. |
| “And once one strips an increase in public sector employment out of the latest figures it becomes clear that the private sector has for the moment called a halt to job creation. | “And once one strips an increase in public sector employment out of the latest figures it becomes clear that the private sector has for the moment called a halt to job creation. |
| “While it’s too early to tell if this reflects general uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum, genuine fear of Brexit, the initial impact of the ‘national living wage’, or simply a broader economic slowdown, the jobs recovery is for the time being clearly on hold.” | |
| The employment rate, which tracks the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work, was 74.2%, the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971, the ONS said. | The employment rate, which tracks the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work, was 74.2%, the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971, the ONS said. |
| Unemployment fell to 1.67 million, 20,000 fewer than the figure for the 3 months to January 2016, and 148,000 fewer than the same period last year. | |
| Last month the number of people employed increased by 44,000 to 31.58 million, while total pay including bonuses edged up by 2%. |