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Jobs vacancies in the UK have dropped for the eighth time as companies blamed economic pressures for holding back on hiring new staff.
The official numbers come a day before Wednesday’s Budget, where the chancellor is expected to talk about plans to help people get jobs again.
Between December and February, 51,000 fewer jobs were available than in the previous three months.
Even with the drop, there are still 1.1 million open jobs.
Between January and March 2020, there were also 328,000 more job openings than before the pandemic.
Between November and January, the rate of people aged 16 to 64 who are not working and are not looking for work went down to 21.3%.
This was driven by people aged between 16 to 24 either getting jobs or looking for work.
But there are still nine million economically inactive Britons who are either students, retired, or sick for a long time.
On Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is expected to talk about how the government plans to get people back to work. One thing that is likely to be announced is an increase in how much people can save for their pensions before paying taxes on them.
Head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, Danni Hewson, said this move was “an incredible start” but added: “It does little to address labor issues at the lower end of the scale.”
Danni Hewson called this move “an incredibly welcome start,” but she also said, “It doesn’t do much to solve labor problems at the low end of the scale.”
Robin Clevett is a self-employed carpenter and joiner who manages up to 10 sub-contractors on construction projects. He said he had to turn down work because there weren’t enough skilled workers.
On the eve of the chancellor’s “back to work” Budget, the official numbers show it is already beginning.
Employment is up again, but this time it’s because of people working part-time or independently. Even though the number of openings has decreased, it is still very high. Since last year, wages in cash have gone up, but they are still well below the inflation rate. Month to month, though, there are signs that pay growth is starting to slow down.
By international standards, unemployment is still very low, and the number of people working is high. This means the jobs market is still a bright spot in the numbers. This has made consumers more resistant than you might think to the huge shock of energy prices.
After a bank failed in the US, the global financial system became less stable. Because of this, the Bank of England might wait to raise rates again next week.
According to the Office for National Statistics data, pay growth appeared to have been stalling.
In January, the average weekly salary in the UK, excluding bonuses, stood at £589, up by £1 from the month before.
In 2022, the average wage went up by almost £3 a month.
That wasn’t enough to cover the rising costs of living. When rising prices, or inflation, are considered, the average salary fell by 2.4% from October to January compared to last year.
Even though the inflation rate is decreasing, it is still high at 10.1%.
The director of statistics at the ONS, Darren Morgan, said, “The inflation rate has gone down a little, but it’s still higher than earnings growth, so really pay keeps going down.”
The ONS also said that 220,000 days of work were lost in January because of strikes. But this was much less than the 822,000 reported in December when widespread strikes affected mail delivery and train service.
Facebook’s parent company will cut 10,000 jobs
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, says it will cut 10,000 jobs.
It will be the second time the tech giant fires many people at once. Last November, 11,000 people lost their jobs.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, said that the cuts, which are part of a “year of efficiency,” would be “tough.”
In addition to the 10,000 jobs that will be cut, he told staff that the company would also leave 5,000 jobs open.
In a memo to employees, Mr. Zuckerberg said that he thought the company had gotten “a humbling wake-up call” in 2022 when its revenue dropped sharply.
Read Also: US interest rates may rise higher than expected
Meta previously announced that in the third quarter to December 2022, earnings were down 4% year-on-year – though it still managed to make a profit of more than $23bn throughout 2022.
Mr. Zuckerberg said that Meta was slowing down because of things like higher interest rates in the US, instability in international politics, and more rules.
