The ONS have released the latest Labour Market Overview covering the months December 2021 – February 2022.
What Does This Mean For Youth Employment?
Headlines for young people
Young people (those aged 16 to 24 years) have been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the employment rate decreasing and the unemployment and economic inactivity rates increasing by more in comparison with those aged 25 years and over. During the last three-month period, however, there was an increase in the employment and in the unemployment rate and a decrease in the inactivity rate for young people.
In work
The employment rate for 16 – 24 year olds sits at 54.1%, the number of young people in employment increased by 34,000 from the previous quarter and increased by 278,000 from the previous year to 3.68 million.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate sat at 11.3%, up from 11.1% on the previous quarter and sitting around pre pandemic levels.
This equates to 467,000 young people aged 16-24 unemployed in December 2021-February 2022, up 14,000 from the previous quarter and down 113,000 from the year before
Economically inactive
39% of young people were economically inactive this is down slightly (0.1ppt) on the last quarter. This equates to a fall of 46,000 young people from the previous quarter and decrease of 186,000 from the previous year.
Headlines for all ages
In work
The employment rate is 75.5%, unchanged on the quarter, up on the year but still below pre-pandemic rates
- Employment rose by 10,000 in December to February 2022 compared to the previous quarter but remains 588,000 lower than before the pandemic.
The number of full-time employees increased on the quarter; however this was offset by a decrease in part-time employees. While the number of self-employed workers is still well below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, it has increased slightly in the recent quarter.
PAYE data shows 29.6 million are in paid employment, a rise of 35,000 on the quarter and 544,000 above its pre-pandemic level. a rise of 4.8% over the previous 12 months. See bar chart 1 for the disparities across different sectors.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate is 3.8%, 0.2 ppts lower than the previous quarter, and is now at pre-pandemic rates.
Those unemployed for up to 12 months decreased during the latest period to a record low. Meanwhile, those unemployed for over 12 months continued to decrease from the peak in July to September 2021.
- 1.4 million people are unemployed, a fall of 128,000 on the quarter but up 18,000 since February 2020.
- The fall in employment is being driven by a rise in part-time workers and those on zero-hour contracts, the majority of the latter are young people.
The claimant count stands at 1.8 million, a decrease of 2.2% on the previous month.
The number of job vacancies in January to March 2022 rose to a new record of 1,288,000. However, the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down. Over the quarter the number of vacancies increased by 50,200 with the largest increase in human health and social work.
Economically inactive
The economic inactivity rate stands at 21.4%, up 0.2 ppts on the previous quarter and 1.2 ppt higher than before the pandemic. This increase was driven by those who are economically inactive because they are looking after family or home, retired, or long-term sick.
