LONDON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Britain's unemployment rate for people aged 16 and over was estimated at 4.9 percent in the three months to July, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.
The rate was up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier but largely unchanged from the previous three-month period. The number of payrolled employees fell by 84,000, or 0.3 percent, year on year, and by 39,000, or 0.1 percent, from the previous quarter.
The data showed 3.9 percent annual growth in total earnings, including bonuses, in three months to July, down from 4.2 percent in the previous three-month period.
From June to August, the estimated number of job vacancies fell by 8,000 to 702,000, compared with the March-May period, the ONS said. Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period, job vacancies were last at 702,000 or lower in the three months to October 2014.
Although the labor market remains broadly stable, payrolled employee numbers continued to edge down, with falls over the past year particularly evident in the retail and hospitality sectors, said ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown.
"Vacancies remain at their lowest level outside the pandemic period for more than a decade, with smaller businesses continuing to report that increased labor costs are affecting hiring decisions," she commented.
McKeown added that total pay growth has eased in recent months, with a notable difference between public- and private-sector pay growth. ■