Commenting on the latest ONS labour market data, Jake Finney, Senior Economist at PwC UK, says:
“On the face of it, the latest labour market report looks relatively benign. Unemployment, employment and inactivity remain broadly stable, while vacancies edged down but are essentially levelling off. The jobs market remains soft, but it isn’t collapsing.
“Beneath the headline figures is a more uneven picture. Consumer-facing sectors such as retail and hospitality continue to see employment fall, offset largely by rising public sector employment. The risk is that younger and entry-level workers in these sectors continue to bear the brunt of the weakness, while firms in more constrained parts of the economy still struggle to find people with the skills they need.
“For the Bank of England, this latest jobs report is unlikely to move the dial on interest rates. The bigger risk lies outside the UK, with geopolitical volatility currently posing the greatest risk to domestic inflation pressures."
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