Next government needs to prioritise falling employment, says think tank

12 Jun 2024

Think tank the Resolution Foundation has warned that the next government will need to tackle the problem of falling employment, not falling inflation.

The think tank warned that the UK labour market 'continues to cool' with the employment rate only just above its mid-pandemic low point.

It stated that the UK unemployment rate has increased for four months in a row from 3.8% in the final quarter of 2023 to 4.4% in the three months to April 2024.

Economic inactivity also increased to 22.3% and long-term sickness reached a record high of 2.83 million.

Commenting on the matter, Nye Cominetti, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'The labour market has continued to cool in early 2024, with both unemployment and inactivity up. Worryingly, the UK employment is closer to its mid-pandemic lows, than its pre-pandemic highs.

'Turning around this poor performance, and kickstarting the kind of jobs growth Britain experienced in the 2010s will be a key task for the next government.'