The employment rate is now at its highest level since records began 46 years ago, meaning you have to go back to the days of T Rex and Slade topping the charts to remember a time when more people were in work. But it’s not the time to pop the Champagne corks, warns Doug Monro, Co-founder of Adzuna.

Big global companies such as Apple have thumbed a nose at Brexit uncertainty by saying they are very optimistic about the UK’s future and have reaffirmed their commitment by planning new headquarters in the redeveloped Battersea Power Station development. The ONS figures also suggest that average earnings are starting to rise, but our data suggests that it’s not quite time to pop the champagne corks on that front as wage growth has been volatile of late. Indeed our latest Jobs Report found that salaries in the capital are struggling more than any other region in the country, having decreased 3.9 percent in the year to December 2016. In short, employment prospects are as healthy as ever, but wage expectations may have to be a bit more modest than previously

ONS Labour Market Stats, Feb 2017
Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between July to September 2016 and October to December 2016, the number of people in work increased, the number of unemployed people was little changed, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) decreased. There were 31.84 million people in work, 37,000 more than for July to September 2016 and 302,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 23.29 million people working full-time, 218,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 8.55 million people working part-time, 84,000 more than for a year earlier.

The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 74.6 percent, the highest since comparable records began in 1971. There were 1.60 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), little changed compared with July to September 2016 but 97,000 fewer than for a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, down from 5.1 percent for a year earlier. It has not been lower since July to September 2005. The unemployment rate is the proportion of the labour force (those in work plus those unemployed) that were unemployed.