Britain’s jobs miracle

500,000 more in work – and even the IMF admits it got it wrong on Brexit!

EMPLOYMENT kept rising even after the end of the furlough system, in a jobs miracle for Britain.

The number of staff on companies’ books climbed 0.9 per cent in November to 29.4million, meaning almost half a million more people are now in work than before the pandemic hit.

Economists had worried the UK’s jobs rebound might flop when furlough finally tapered off at the end of September, with around a million workers still claiming Government support.

But Office for National Statistics (ONS) data indicated that the number of employees on payrolls edged up by 0.3 per cent in October and 0.9 per cent in November.

More formalised data for the three months to October showed the number in employment rising by 149,000 – fuelled by part-time workers. This helped push the unemployment rate down to 4.2 per cent, or around 1.4 million people, from 4.3 per cent in the July to

September period. The jobless rate is now almost back to the 4 per cent seen pre-pandemic.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: ‘The jobs outlook remains strong thanks to our £400billion economic support package, Plan for Jobs and fantastic vaccine programme.’

Even the International Monetary Fund boss admitted Britain proved ‘more resilient than expected’ after Brexit and the pandemic.

Kristalina Georgieva said the UK had ‘advanced in many respects versus this time last year’.

Mrs Georgieva warned of disruption next year, when new customs checks come into force.

But this was not enough to drive down the IMF’s forecast for 5 per cent growth in 2022. As recently as last year, it was predicting ‘scarring’ – or long-term damage – to the economy of around 5 per cent. But it now thinks this could be as little as 2 to 2.5 per cent.

Bank of England bosses face a headache as they meet this week to decide whether to lift rates to tame inflation. Experts think the Bank will again delay a rate hike until February due to Omicron.

There were also warnings about the impact of further Covid measures in the run-up to Christmas.

Joanne Frew, head of employment law at solicitors DWF, said: ‘With the Prime Minister declaring an “Omicron emergency” and a raft of further restrictions being introduced, we can expect the labour market figures to be impacted.

‘In particular, the hospitality industry is likely to be hit hard.’