Employment hits all-time high as manufacturing recovers

More people in the UK are in employment than ever before, new figures show.

The Office for National Statistics says 32.4 million people had jobs in the second quarter of 2018 – representing an employment rate of 75.7%. The unemployment rate also fell slightly, to 4.2%.

There could be further good news to come: an unprecedented number of job vacancies were recorded between April and June, suggesting the employment rate will rise further over the summer.

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The upswing comes as the UK’s manufacturing sector shows further encouraging signs of recovery. A week before it revealed the employment statistics, the ONS announced that manufacturing output had increased by 0.4% in May.

Output also rose year-on-year, by 1.1%. The increase, while not as strong as many had predicted, was evidence of a recovery that was anticipated by order book figures for the second quarter.

A third of British manufacturers booked increased orders in the second quarter of the year, according to figures from the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI also found that 29% of firms had experienced an increase in output over with the first quarter.

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