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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
Find out how Barclays Corporate Banking’s industry experts are supporting clients to achieve their ambitions at barclayscorporate.com
Take our survey for your chance to win £100 John Lewis vouchers
-
The NCAA is a 'billion-dollar sports behemoth' that 'should not be a nonprofit'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLSspeed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
What's a pocket rescission and can Trump use one?The Explainer The White House may try to use an obscure and prohibited trick to halt more spending
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
-
EasyJet/Wizz: battle for air supremacySpeed Read ‘Wizz’s cheeky takeover bid will have come as a blow to the corporate ego’
