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The UK labour market has held up slightly better than thought as higher interest rates weigh on economic activity, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 per cent in the three months to August, up from 4 per cent in the previous quarter. The employment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 75.7 per cent in the same period.
These estimates should be treated as “experimental”, the ONS said, as they were for the first time derived from tax records and benefits claims, rather than the labour force survey on which its figures were usually based.
The new estimates paint a slightly stronger picture of the jobs market than previous figures, which put unemployment at 4.3 per cent in the three months to July.
The ONS also gave a lower estimate for economic inactivity than its previous figures had shown, saying 20.9 per cent of working-age adults were neither in a job or looking for one in the latest period.
