UK unemployment dropped to its lowest level in almost half a century in the first quarter of 2022, with nearly a million people switching jobs as vacancies rose to 1.3mn. Data released on Tuesday underscored the Bank of England’s challenge as it attempts to rein in soaring inflation. At the same time, workers seek wage increases to ease the squeeze on the value of their earnings.
Dales, at the consultancy Capital Economics. He claimed that the Bank of England would need to increase interest rates further than expected to quell inflationary pressures. The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate stood at 3.7 percent in the three months to March, the lower level after 1974, with fewer people out of work than job openings for the first time on record.
Inflation Is Progressively Rising
The ONS stated that the number of people unemployed for between six and 12 months also fell to its lowest. Nevertheless, the UK’s workforce stays smaller than before the epidemic because of the large numbers who say they are neither working nor job-seeking. The employment rate increased to 75.7 percent; it went 0.1 percentage points up on the quarter; however, it was still 0.9 percentage points more inferior than in early 2020. Further advancement in economic inactivity contributed to tight labor market strains.
Data on Wednesday should show that inflation climbed above 9 percent in April, driven by increased regulated energy prices. On Monday, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, stated that the central bank could do nothing to prevent inflation from rising into double digits by the autumn while admitting that it had been slow to recognize the pressures building in a “very tight” labor market.
