Employment rate hits five-year high fuelled by private sector growth

The employment rate has hit a five-year high and a record 30.19 million people are now in jobs, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics this morning.

The number of people in work has increased by 1.35 million since 2010 - over a million of these jobs are full-time – and the employment rate is now 72.3%, the highest it has been since 2008.

Today’s figures also show that the number of young people in work increased by 43,000 in the last three months.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell by over 363,000 on the year, which is the largest annual fall since 1998. The number of young people claiming JSA has been falling for the last 21 months.

The number of people who are unemployed fell by 63,000 in the last three months, with the number of people who have been unemployed for over a year falling by 38,000. The number of unemployed young people also fell by 29,000 and has been falling now for the last six months.

The latest figures also show the number of job vacancies increased in the last three months by 23,000 to 588,000.

Private sector pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 1.6%, which is the largest rise since October 2012.