More jobs than unemployment results in pressure for higher wages

There are now more jobs than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began almost 50 years ago, according to the latest stats from the Office for National Statistics.

The latest stats also show that wages did not keep up with rising costs, which is only expected to get worse over the coming months with the food and fuel crisis.

In response to the latest ONS report, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said “I understand these are anxious times for people, but it’s reassuring that fewer people are out of work than was previously feared.

“We are helping them […] through tax cuts, changes to Universal Credit and support with household bills worth £22 billion this financial year.”

MP Neil O’Brien said in a Tweet earlier today “this is a remarkable result” saying that “Riski was right to wield the bazooka to fight unemployment”.

This is a remarkable result – Rishi was right to wield the bazooka to fight unemployment

UK unemployment falls to lowest level in nearly 50 yearshttps://t.co/bPxdP2YVTt

— Neil O'Brien MP (@NeilDotObrien) May 17, 2022

What we are experiencing right now, low unemployment in the market and high demand for labour, is known as a tight market, which places more pressure on wage increases.

Warwick Business School Professor Andrew Sentance said this is a “wake up call to the Monetary Policy Committee on how a tight labour market is now fuelling a wage-price spiral.”

Further evidence of very tight UK labour market in today’s data. Unemployment falls again, vacancies at new record level – nearly 1.3 million – and pay rising by 7 percent a year. A wake-up call to the #MPC on how a tight labour market is now fuelling a wage-price spiral.

— Andrew Sentance (@asentance) May 17, 2022