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The UK labour market began to stabilise at the start of 2021, with furlough measures still in place and the vaccine rollout boosting hopes of an economic recovery, official data showed on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate stood at 5 per cent in the three months to February, 0.1 percentage point higher than in the previous quarter but lower than the 5.2 per cent that economists had expected. The Office for National Statistics said weekly data showed the rate had decreased slightly in January.
Real time data from HM Revenue & Customs showed the number of employees on companies’ payrolls had increased slightly in February for a third consecutive month, although it remained almost 700,000 lower than a year earlier.
However, the economic inactivity rate also increased to 21 per cent, 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. The ONS said this was driven by people who were inactive because they were students.
Hiring remained deeply depressed. The number of vacancies in the three months to February was 26.8 per cent lower than a year earlier and the ONS said growth in vacancies had slowed.
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