Unemployment has ticked up again — now sitting at 4.5%. That’s the highest we’ve seen since summer 2021 and a 0.2% rise from the previous quarter.

This comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), who say their Labour Force Survey data is improving in reliability, although it’s faced some criticism in the past.

Job vacancies are falling, too. There were 761,000 vacancies in the 3 months to April — a drop of 5.3% from the previous quarter and 131,000 less than a year earlier — with the biggest drops in the construction industry.

Wage growth has slowed a bit, from 5.9% previously to 5.6%. That may be a small sign for the Bank of England to ease back on policy, following its recent cut in interest rates to 4.25%.

Meanwhile, the number of people on payroll fell by 47,000 between February and March. The employment rate remained fairly steady at 75% and economic inactivity — people not currently looking for a job — ticked up to 21.4%.

All this comes at a time when businesses are already navigating a rise in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage. It’s a challenging climate, and there’s a lot for business owners to keep an eye on.

If you’d like a clear view of how these trends may affect your business — or you just want a bit of guidance — I’m here to help.

Talk to me about your business.