Latest data released by ONS - 15 July 2021
- Prior -92.6k
- Claimant count rate 5.8%
- Prior 6.2%; revised to 6.0%
- May ILO unemployment rate 4.8% vs 4.7% expected
- Prior 4.7%
- May employment change 25k
- Prior 113k
- May average weekly earnings +7.3% vs +7.2% 3m/y expected
- Prior +5.6%; revised to +5.7%
- May average weekly earnings (ex bonus) +6.6% vs +6.6% 3m/y expected
- Prior +5.6%; revised to +5.7%
Slight delay in the release by the source. The number of payroll employees showed another monthly increase in June, rising by 356,000 to 28.9 million with some regions in the UK showing employment above pre-pandemic levels.
But as a whole, employment is still 206,000 below pre-pandemic levels though the trend is still showing further improvement in recent months.
Wages growth continue to reflect a strong surge but ONS warns that "this growth is affected by compositional and base effects, interpretation should be taken with caution".
Overall, it is a decent report which reaffirms that labour market conditions are continuing to improve. That will continue to keep the BOE on their toes alongside inflation.
