More than a fifth of UK adults still not looking for work | Global News Avenue

Official data show that more than one in five working adults in the UK are still not working or actively looking for jobs.

In the three months ended January, the UK’s economic inactivity rate was 21.5%, down from the previous quarter and year, and relatively low compared to the trend since 2009.

However, as the government proposes plans to promote economic growth in the UK, the number of people not seeking jobs has attracted the focus.

The figures come after the controversial plan to reduce illness and disability benefits announced this week, and then ahead of next week’s spring statement, when Prime Minister Rachel Reeves will provide the latest news on her economic plan.

On Tuesday, the government announced cuts to disease and disability benefits aimed at saving £5 billion a year by 2030.

It said the measures will encourage people to work while protecting those who cannot.

But these reforms face fierce criticism from post-labor shelves, unions and charities that they say the changes could put more people with disabilities in poverty.

Job and Pension Minister Liz Kendall said the latest job figures “prove the scale of challenges we still face to make Britain work again”.

Former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield has been leading the gatekeeper work reviews, with the government entrusting employers to study the role of employers in health and disability.

“(Employers) need to create an environment so that people can talk about the help they might need,” he told the BBC.

He said the UK needs to move from a disconnected system to what people can’t do and focus on what they can do.

“Getting off work is not always a solution.”

The review found that 8.7 million people in the UK suffer from work-restricted health, an increase of 2.5 million over the past decade.

These include 1.2 million children aged 16 to 34 and 900,000 children aged 50 to 64.

It also found that people who have lost less than a year are five times more likely to return to work than those who have been unemployed for longer periods of time.

The National Bureau of Statistics (ONS) said that due to the low response rate to employment surveys, their employment figures should be treated with caution.

However, it says that since comparable records began in 1971, the economy has been ineffective—where people are unemployed and not looking for jobs has often been declining.

It increases during the same pandemic and fluctuates around the speed at which it increases.

However, economic inactivity rates for all ages fell 0.6% over the year, while the quarter fell 0.2%, mainly because more people aged 35 to 49 are looking for jobs.

ONS said in its labor market release that wage growth continues to outperform inflation.

Salaries excluding bonuses rose 5.9% in the quarter compared to the previous year, with strong growth in retail, hospitality and construction wages.

The Bank of England keeps a close eye on salary and job data when deciding interest rates.

Central Bank to announce its latest rate decision at noon General expectation to keep interest rates at 4.5%.