I’m thrilled the economy’s roaring back says Sunak after record worker surge
BRITAIN’S economy is “roaring towards recovery” with one of the world’s fastest growth rates, Rishi Sunak has declared.
The Chancellor lauded a record jump in the number of payrolled workers, with job vacancies hitting a new high.
International forecasters said the UK was still on course to be the fastest-growing advanced economy.Wages are rocketing and unemployment is falling, official figures showed.
Mr Sunak told the Daily Express: “I’m thrilled to see our economy roaring towards recovery, with international forecasters predicting the UK to have the fastest growth rate in the G7 this year.
“Outpacing the US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan.
“Despite the depths of the crisis we faced, our unemployment rate has fallen for eight months in a row and there are now more people on payrolls than ever before, which shows our Plan For Jobs is working.
Optimistic
“Thanks to our flagship furlough scheme, jobs have been saved and expected redundancies have remained very low.
“The pandemic posed a threat to people’s incomes, but I’m delighted to say wages are rising, with real pay in the three months to August standing at 3.4 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
“We’ve got some way to go yet. But the investment we’re making in our Plan For Jobs, including an additional half a billion pounds, will ensure people have all the skills and support they need to fulfil their potential, and take advantage of the opportunities out there.
“I’m optimistic that we can continue to harness this country’s spirit of innovation, progress and opportunity.”
Mr Sunak will today call on finance ministers from the world’s advanced nations to work together to improve global supply chains after months of problems internationally.
During his first visit to the United States as Chancellor, he will also tell counterparts the vaccine rollout internationally is crucial to the world’s recovery. The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that Britain’s output was expected to grow by 6.8 per cent this year, although that is slightly down on the previous seven per cent forecast. It significantly outstrips the 5.2 per cent average predicted for advanced economies and is well ahead of the next highest nation on the list, France at 6.3 per cent.
The report came as official figures showed the number of payrolled workers rose by 207,000 between August and September to a high of 29.2 million, up 122,000 on the month before the pandemic struck.
Office for National Statistics figures recorded falling unemployment, down slightly to 4.5 per cent between June and August. Job vacancies hit 1.1 million between July and September. They were up to nearly 1.2 million in September, a new one-month record.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The jobs market has continued to recover, with our latest estimates suggesting that all industries have at least as many jobs on offer now as before the onset of Covid.”
Julian Jessop, economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The strong employment data should help to calm fears that the UK is sliding back into recession.”