1,000 workers a day have got a job since the Brexit vote
Nearly a thousand people have found work in Britain every day since the Brexit vote, figures revealed yesterday.
In yet another sign the UK continues to confound the doom-laden warnings of Project Fear, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said employment hit a record high of 32.39million at the end of april.
The report showed that 659,000 people have found work since the country voted to leave the european Union two years ago – an average of 985 a day.
at the same time, unemployment has fallen by 224,000 to 1.42million, taking the jobless rate to a 43-year low of 4.2 per cent.
Unemployment among women is even lower at 4.1 per cent – the lowest level since records began in 1971.
although concerns about subdued wage growth remain, the report made a mockery of warnings by remain campaigners that a vote to leave the EU would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Before the referendum, George Osborne warned of a ‘profound shock to our economy’ that would plunge Britain into recession, put as many as 820,000 people out of work and see unemployment hit 7.6 per cent this year.
Brexit campaigners yesterday said ‘quite the reverse had happened’ as they welcomed the latest surge in employment.
The ONS report also showed the number of people working in finance and insurance has grown by 14,000 since the referendum to 1.14million – defying claims that a Brexit vote would trigger an exodus from the City of london.
With 3.3million people finding work since the Tories came to power in 2010, esther McVey, Work and Pensions Secretary, hailed ‘a great British success story’. even Chancellor Philip Hammond – whose Treasury was last week branded ‘the heart of remain’ by Boris Johnson – said Britain’s jobs market ‘goes from strength to strength’.
While unemployment in the UK is at 4.2 per cent, its lowest since 1975, it remains painfully high at 8.5 per cent in the eurozone.
Tory MP andrea Jenkyns, a supporter of the pro-Brexit Change Britain campaign group, said: ‘This is yet more good news for British businesses and workers, and a devastating blow to the claims of rising unemployment we heard from Project Fear. The UK can be confident that our economy is in rude health as we leave the EU.’
The ONS said employment rose by 146,000 between February and april – an increase of 1,640 a day. The employment rate now stands at 75.6 per cent – the highest since records began 47 years ago. a
‘Great British success story’
record 15.3million women are now in work – a rise of 275,000, including 151,000 part-time, over the past year.
Unemployment fell by 38,000 over the three months to the end of april and, with 818,000 job vacancies in Britain, employers are looking to take on more staff.
But wage growth stalled – up 2.8 per cent compared with a year earlier, down from an increase of 2.9 per cent the previous month. However, with inflation falling to 2.4 per cent in april, wages are rising faster than prices, boosting family budgets.
John longworth, co- chairman of leave Means leave, said the figures showed that despite the ‘propaganda of Project Fear’ the reverse had happened. He added: ‘This is in stark contrast to the German-run eurozone where the captive nations like Greece, Spain and Italy have eye wateringly high unemployment. Who would want to be a member of a club like that?’