Record highs in East Anglia employment

Over 16,000 successful job placements have been made in East Anglia between February and April. Contributing towards record highs in employment throughout the UK.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the unemployment rate across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire stood at 3.6%. Figures were upwards of 116,000 total unemployed. Across the UK employment increased by 146,000 in the first quarter of 2018. With a record rate of 75.6% generating the highest figure since the initial records in 1971.

Across the UK 38,000 dropped off the unemployment list reducing the total figure to 1.42 million. Average earnings have risen by 2.5% in the year to April with the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figures at 2.4%.

Senior ONS statistician David Freeman said: “Employment has continued to rise, while the unemployment rate remained at its lowest for over 40 years. Wages, both including and excluding bonuses, are continuing to increase, and slightly faster than inflation.”

The figure classed as economically inactive fell by 72,000 to 8.6 million in the latest quarter. This includes students, people on long-term sick leave, those who have given up looking for work and the retired. Another record low at 21%.

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey said: “It’s a Great British success story, with businesses from Exeter to Edinburgh creating jobs, helping, on average, 1,000 people find a job each and every day since 2010.”

Self-employment figures have also increased by 34,000 to above 4.8 million however the figure is just 9,000 higher than a year ago. There were 5.36 million people employed in the public sector in March, 10,000 more than in December last year, mainly because of increases in public administration and the Civil Service.

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