The number of temporary employees in the UK decreased by 3.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis to a total of 1.53 million in the three-month period from May to July 2018 when compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Temporary workers are self-identified when surveyed by the ONS, and they include those who are on fixed-period contracts, agency temp workers, casual workers, seasonal workers and others in temporary work.

ONS figures also showed that the unemployment rate (the number of unemployed people as a proportion of all employed and unemployed people) was 4.0%; it has not been lower since the period from December 1974 to February 1975. Overall, there were 1.36 million unemployed people, 95,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the employment rate was 75.5%, higher than for a year earlier (75.3%). There were 32.40 million people in work, 261,000 more than for a year earlier.

Data from ONS also showed that there were 8.76 million people aged from 16 to 64 years who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), which was 16,000 more than for a year earlier.

Turning to wages, ONS estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in the UK in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for price inflation) increased by 2.9% excluding bonuses, and by 2.6% including bonuses, compared with a year earlier. Average weekly earnings for employees in the UK in real terms (that is, adjusted for price inflation) increased by 0.5% excluding bonuses, and by 0.2% including bonuses, compared with a year earlier.

ONS’s head of labour market statistics David Freeman commented, "With the number of people in work little changed, employment growth has weakened. However, the labour market remains robust, with the number of people working still at historically high levels, unemployment down on the year and a record number of vacancies. Meanwhile, earnings have grown faster than prices for several months, especially looking at pay excluding bonuses.”

Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, also commented, “While there was a welcome increase in earnings growth, the gap between pay and price growth remains insufficient to convert into an appreciable pick-up in consumer spending. Sustaining meaningful real wage growth is likely to remain challenging amid subdued productivity and the escalating burden of upfront costs on businesses.”

Trades Union Congress General Secretary Frances O’Grady, also commented, “Workers have suffered the longest pay squeeze in 200 years. Families can’t make ends meet without being forced into the red. And the May government has done nothing to get wages rising or to tackle the epidemic of insecure work.

“The Prime Minister must crack down on insecure work, ending unfair pay for agency workers and banning zero-hours contracts. And raise the minimum wage to £10 as quickly as possible. Unions are fighting hard to get workers better pay, but the government should also give unions the right to go into every workplace and negotiate with employers for fair pay rises,” O’Grady said.

Julia Kermode, Chief Executive of The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association, commented, “ONS figures also show UK wages increased by almost 3% during the last quarter, meaning that employers are paying more to attract the talent and skills they need for their businesses.  In the current labour market, it seems that employers are struggling to fill their roles which is not surprising given the widely reported skills shortages in some sectors.”

“Businesses might also want to consider the advantages of having a contingent workforce which they can call on an as-needs basis – bringing much-needed flexibility for both UK plc and the workers themselves,” Kermode said.

According to the ONS, there were 833,000 job vacancies for the period from June to August 2018 which was 44,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 2.8 job vacancies per 100 employee jobs for June to August 2018.

For the period from May to July 2018, 87,000 people had become redundant in the three months before the Labour Force Survey interviews. This was 24,000 fewer than for a year earlier and the lowest figure since comparable records for redundancies began in March to May 1995.