THE south west of England has the lowest unemployment rate in the UK, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS Labour Force Survey, which covers the period April to June 2021, revealed that the region’s unemployment rate has fallen to 3.6% – down by 0.2% from the period January to March.     

The UK average for the same period is 4.7%, which has decreased by 0.2% from January to March and 0.6% from April to June 2020.

Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy statistician, said that the "world of work continues to rebound robustly" from the pandemic.

The employment rate in the south west rose to 77%, while 20% of the area’s population are considered ‘economically inactive’.

This means they are not in the labour force, but they are not considered unemployed because they have not sought work within the last four weeks, nor are they able to start working within two weeks.

The statistics account for people aged 16-64.

Somerset County Gazette: Prime Minister Boris Johnson Chancellor Rishi Sunak (Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

The ONS also announced yesterday that the number of job vacancies in the UK hit a record high of 953,000 between May and July 2021 – an increase of 42.8% (290,000) from the previous quarter.

Annual pay has risen 7.4% from last year, but this compares to a time when millions of people were on furlough and were not being paid their full wage.

Athow said: "This time last year we had millions of people on furlough, many getting 80% of their wages, other people having their hours cut, and that pushed wages down.

"So when we look at wages this year, when people have come back from furlough, it's really been boosted by the fact that last year wages were quite low. Some of this group was just wages returning to the level before the pandemic."

Payrolls increased in the UK by 182,000 between June and July, reaching 28.9 million.

This figure is 201,000 lower than before the pandemic started but represents the economy ‘rebounding’ from the pandemic.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said: "I know there could still be bumps in the road, but the data is promising - there are now more employees on payrolls than at any point since March 2020 and the number of people on furlough is the lowest since the scheme launched."

Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "The figures add weight to our view that there won't be a big shake-out in employment once the furlough scheme expires at the end of September."