Fact check: Vacancy numbers are at a five-year low

Job vacancies in the UK have dropped to their lowest point since spring 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with a reduction of around 8,000 quarter on quarter to 702,000. This figure is also the lowest in over a decade when excluding pandemic-related data. Regular average weekly earnings growth remained steady at 3.5%, but wage growth overall decreased slightly from 4.2% to 3.9% year-on-year. The UK unemployment rate stayed stable at 4.9% for July, yet more timely payroll data showed a decline of 26,000 workers in August to 30.2 million, following a drop of 19,000 the previous month. Smaller businesses are particularly cautious about hiring due to rising wage costs, while the public sector continues to expand with an increase of 11,000 jobs to employ approximately 6.21 million people by June. This labor market contraction is a concern as energy prices surge and inflation pressures mount.