Britain's first-quarter unemployment rate is 44 years low. The shadow of Brexit

Posted by qianjiu on May 16th, 2019

The UK unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since the 1970s, benefiting employers from recruiting activities before the UK's original Brexit day, but there are signs that Brexit is beginning to put pressure on the job boom.

The National Bureau of Statistics (ONS) announced that the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.8% in the first quarter of this year, the lowest level since January 1975. The number of unemployed people has dropped by 65,000, the biggest drop in more than two years. However, the growth in employment slowed to 99,000, far below analysts' estimate of a median of 135,000, and salary growth lost momentum.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) economist Mike Jakeman said, "In some data, you may see the shadow of Brexit. The March is the most serious month for Brexit anxiety in the UK. This may be more unwilling for companies. The reason for offering higher wages and posting new job advertisements. In a series of recent strong employment and profit growth reports, these numbers may be just an episode."

As the Brexit approached, the UK labor market remained resilient and helped boost household spending. Without the support of household spending, the UK's economic performance may be fragile.

However, the job market boom may well reflect employers' recruitment strategies – recruiting workers who can be quickly fired in times of economic downturn – rather than committing to long-term investments while waiting for the uncertainty of Brexit to be eliminated.

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