UK unemployment falls but number of long-term sick rises to record high
The number of working-age adults in Britain who are not in the jobs market because they are long-term sick has increased to a record high, official figures show, amid concerns over shortages of workers in the UK economy.
The Office for National Statistics said unemployment in the UK fell to 3.5% in the three months to August from a previous level of 3.8%, dropping to the lowest level since February 1974.
However, the fall in the headline rate came amid a sharp rise in the number of working-age adults who are classified by statisticians as “economically inactive,” meaning they are neither employed nor looking for work.
While there are about 1.2 million people unemployed, it said the inactivity rate rose by 0.6 percentage points over the three-month period to 21.7%, with almost 9 million people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive.
The rise was driven by students, as well as long-term sickness which increased to a record high, with the biggest increases in inactivity rates among those aged 50 to 64 and among 16- to 24-year-olds. Almost 2.5 million people are inactive because of long-term health problems.
Economists warned rising sickness rates would pose a serious challenge to the government’s economic growth agenda.
Ben Harrison, the director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “The government is right to focus on driving growth in the economy, but it cannot do so without tackling the UK’s participation issue.
“If the prime minister is to be true to her word on ‘taking tough decisions’, her administration should drop the rhetoric on benefit claimants needing to work harder and instead focus the full power of government to support those who have dropped out of the labour market, including those not receiving
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