Jobless at lowest rate since 1974 but wages lag

BRITAIN’S jobless rate has fallen to its lowest level for nearly 48 years, but workers have seen their pay fall further behind rocketing inflation, according to official figures.

The rate of unemployment dropped to 3.7% in the three months to March – the lowest since October to December 1974, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

For the first time there were fewer unemployed people than job vacancies, although the fall in the rate – down from 3.8% in the three months to February – was also due to a rise in the number of people dropping out of the jobs market, the figures showed.

Calls were mounting for an emergency Budget to offer help amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis as the ONS revealed that regular pay excluding bonuses dropped by 2.9% in March when taking Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation into account – the biggest fall since November 2011.

In the three months to February, real regular pay was 2% lower, the steepest decline since 2013.

It comes in spite of another pick-up – of 4.2% – in regular average pay in the quarter. Pay including bonuses jumped 7% and was up 9.9% in March alone as firms ramped up rewards for staff amid a booming jobs market, seen in particular across sectors such as construction and finance.