New figures out today show that job vacancies have hit a record high and unemployment has fallen – news which has been welcomed by North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson.
For the first time since records began, the number of job vacancies has risen over 1million and is now 249,000 above its pre-Covid pandemic January to March 2020 level.
Vacancies have increased in all industry sectors, with the majority reaching record levels. Accommodation and food services saw the most significant increases in vacancies, rising by 75% on the quarter.
The current employment rate if 75.2%, which is 1.3% lower than before the Pandemic – when the UK was experiencing a record high employment rate. However, there are signs of a recovery with the employment rate increasing by 0.5% on the previous quarter. Similarly, the unemployment rate has also fallen 0.3% over the previous quarter.
The recovery follows the Governments Plan For Jobs – a range of measures to protect, support and create jobs. The plan aims to give businesses confidence to retain and hire staff, create jobs in every part of the country, and give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.
The Plan for Jobs is supporting people to develop the skills they need to find the jobs of tomorrow. So far:
- 63,000 young people have started their Kickstart job;
- Restart will help over a million long-term unemployed people on Universal Credit;
- More than 80,000 apprentices have been newly hired under our new incentive payments;
- More than 138,000 people have benefitted from the Job Entry Targeted Support, and; an average of 1,200 job seekers per week enrolling on a Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.
Justin Tomlinson said: “This is really encouraging news in what has been a very difficult time for many people. The Government has worked hard to provide the tools and support to help people find jobs and businesses to bounce back strongly, and it is great to see this work paying off – I we can continue to build on this progress.”
