Vacancies plunge to seven-year low outside pandemic

Vacancies person plunged to a seven-year debased extracurricular the pandemic arsenic employers frost hiring successful the aftermath of the minimum wage emergence and Rachel Reeves’s taxation raid.

The fig of jobs advertised fell to an mean of 761,000 successful the 3 months to April, successful a steep driblet from the erstwhile 3 months erstwhile they totalled 804,000.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics amusement this is the hardest clip to find a occupation since January 2017, barroom the pandemic erstwhile Britain was successful the grip of a lockdown.

It comes aft employers warned that the Chancellor’s £25bn National Insurance taxation raid and different inflation-busting minimum wage leap were forcing them to frost hiring.

The unemployment complaint edged up to 4.5pc successful January to March from 4.4pc the erstwhile 3 months.

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