EU migrant labour falls to record low as UK employment increases
THE number of EU migrants working in the UK has fallen 86,000 to 2.28million over the past year, the biggest drop since records began. And 330,000 more Britons are in work than a year ago, as employment rose to 32.39million.
Government statistics showed a decline in numbers from the eight east European nations that joined the EU in 2004, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
The Office for National Statistics said that up to June migrants from these countries working in the UK fell 117,000 to 880,000, offset partially by a 54,000 increase in people from Romania and Bulgaria, taking the total number working in the UK to 391,000.
Matt Hughes, a statistician at the ONS, said: “The growth in employment is still being driven by UK nationals, with a noticeable drop over the past year in workers from so-called A8 eastern European countries in particular.”
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at Kings College London, said: “Something has definitely changed. Is there a Brexit effect which has made Britain less attractive to EU migrants? Absolutely.
“But calling it a ‘Brexodus’ is an exaggeration given there are more than 3 million EU nationals in the UK. In particular, there has been a sharp fall in people coming from Poland, reflecting the strength of the Polish economy.”
Lord Green of Deddington, the chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “Cries of woe at the departure of EU workers as a result of Brexit are clearly out of place. There are more EU nationals in our workforce now than before the referendum. NON-EU nationals are up yet again by 74,000 on the year and are at their highest for nearly 10 years.
“The need for the Government to get a grip on immigration is ever stronger.”
Unemployment fell by 65,000 in the latest quarter to 1.36 million, the lowest since 1976, giving a jobless rate of 4 per cent. But economists said wage growth remained weak. Adjusting for inflation, real pay improved by just 0.1 per cent for the three months to June.