Unemployment rate rises in Dacorum

In Dacorum the unemployment rate rose by 0.3% to 2.4% from October 2018 to September 2020, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.

In September to November, the employment rate in the UK fell to 75.2%, down from 75.6% in June to August.

Over a year, employment has fallen by 1.1 percentage points, from 76.3%.

Between October 2019 and September 2020 there were 77,505 people aged between 16 and 64, that were employed in Dacorum, (77.2%), and 2,000 people in the same age range were unemployed.

The East of England boasts the third-highest employment rate in the UK, but has still been hit by the coronavirus which has restricted the way so many businesses operate.

The regions's employment rate dropped by 0.5% from findings recorded in the last quarter. The region has an unemployment rate of 4.6%, which accounts for economically active adults who aren't working, discounting those not actively seeking work.

In November, there were 28.1 million payrolled employees in the UK – 828,000 fewer than in February 2020. Compared to November 2019, the number of employees has fallen by 2.8%.

There were 578,000 job vacancies between October and December. That was 81,000 more than during the previous quarter, however the recovery in numbers slowed compared to between July and September.

The recovery follows a sharp drop in vacancies at the start of the pandemic. Vacancies are still below the pre-pandemic level – there are 224,000, or 27.9%, fewer vacancies now than a year ago.