13 August 2024
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market data for August 2024 has been released and has some interesting findings about employment.
Wage growth has slowed to the lowest rate of increase for 2 years. While it is likely too soon to draw any inferences or conclusions from this data, this may be helping with keeping inflation figures low, but the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has stated they will remain cautious with the bank rate.
Unemployment rates dropped unexpectedly, however, while this figure swung by around 97,000 people, more people left the labour market, such as through sickness or taking up caring responsibilities. Chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, commented that bring people back into employment will form part of the upcoming budget.
How this impacts payroll processes and the work that you do will be at the forefront of the policy teams’ minds when the budget comes around.
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