The latest official statistics indicate that the labour market has broadly stabilised, albeit in a weaker state than compared to a year ago.
In the three months to February there were 31.2 million people in employment, a marginal decline of -14,000 on on the quarter but down more than half a million (-643,000) over the year. The employment rate is currently 75.1%, down -0.1 percentage points over the quarter and -1.4% over the year. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stood at 5.0%, down slightly on the quarter but up from 4.0% for the same period a year ago.