UK unemployment rate rises to 4.3% and salaries grow by 7.8%, a record since 2001.

Madrid, September 12 (European Press) –

The UK unemployment rate was 4.3% in the May-July period, half a percentage point higher than in the previous quarter, according to data published on Tuesday by Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS). Which attributed the rise in unemployment rates to an increase in the number of unemployed people for a period of up to 12 months.

For its part, the UK employment rate closed the May-July period at 75.5%, half a percentage point lower than the February-April period. According to the Office for National Statistics, this decline in employment was due to full-time self-employed workers.

Wage employment estimates for August indicate a monthly decrease of 1,000 people compared to the revised figure for July, to 30.1 million people.

Moreover, from June to August, the number of job vacancies decreased by 64,000 people, to 989,000 people, marking its 14th consecutive quarterly decline.

For its part, the National Statistics Office highlighted that due to strikes and labor disputes, 281,000 working days were lost in July, most of them in education, health and social work.

From May to July, British workers recorded a year-on-year increase in their salaries of 7.8%, excluding bonuses, the same rate as in the previous quarter and the largest increase since 2001, when comparable records began.

The annual growth of total average employee salaries, including bonuses, reached 8.5%. In real terms (adjusted for inflation), annual growth was 1.2% for total salaries and 0.6% for regular salaries (excluding bonuses).