Almost 30 million Brits now in employment

Almost 30 million Brits now in employment
The number of people in employment in the UK continued to rise in January, with official figures showing that there are now 29.5 million workers on company payrolls.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people in work rose by 108,000 between December 2021 and January. The unemployment rate also reduced by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1% over the three months to December.
However, the ONS also said that wages have continued to lag behind inflation. Total pay growth rose to 4.3% for the quarter to December – from 4.2% for the three months to November – but continued to lag behind inflation, which soared to a near 30-year high of 5.4% in December.
Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The number of employees on payrolls rose again in January 2022 and is now well above pre-pandemic levels.
“However, our Labour Force Survey shows the number of people in employment overall is well below where it was before Covid-19 hit. This is because there are now far fewer self-employed people.
“The survey also shows that unemployment has fallen again and is now only fractionally above where it was before the pandemic.”