Unemployment figures increase pressure on Bank of England as wages continue to lag inflation

29.5m employees in UK

The UK’s unemployment rate continued to fall in December 2021, but commentators have warned that the figures should be “taken with a pinch of salt”, while adding further pressure on the Bank of England.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics estimates that there were 29.5 million employees in the UK in December, an increase of 184,000 on the revised November 2021 level and up 409,000 on February 2020 pre-Covid. The UK's unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 4.1% on the quarter, but economic inactivity rose. The data, however, focuses on the unemployment rate for September to November - before the Bank of England hiked interest rates in response to soaring UK inflation, as well as the onset of Omicron, which has had a widespread impact on businesses and serv...