The number of temporary employees in the UK fell by 8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis to a total of approximately 1.39 million for the three-month period from June through August 2019 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 temporary agency workers perhaps better, casual workers, seasonal workers and others in temporary work.

The number of temporary employees as a percentage of total employment was 5.1%, down from 5.5% compared to the same period a year ago.

Compared to the previous period ended in July 2019, the number of temporary employees fell by 1.8%.

Of the 1.39 million temporary employees during the period ended August 2019, approximately 335,000 were temporary because they could not find a permanent job; 366,000 did not want a permanent job; 135,000 had a contract with a period of training; and 562,100 cited other reasons.

Of the 1.39 million temporary workers, approximately 638,300 were men while approximately 759,800 were women.

ONS also published labour market figures for the three-month period ended August 2019.

The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.9% during the period, higher than a year earlier (75.6%) but 0.2% lower than the previous quarter.

At the same time, the UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.9%, this is lower than a year earlier (4.0%) but 0.1% higher than the previous quarter.

By region, the highest employment rate estimate in the UK was in the South West (81.0%) and the lowest was in the North East (71.2%). The highest unemployment rate estimate in the UK was in the North East (5.8%) and the lowest was in the South West (2.4%).

UK economic inactivity rate was estimated at 21.0%, lower than a year earlier (21.2%) but 0.1% higher on the previous quarter.

Estimated annual growth in average weekly earnings for employees in the UK was 3.8% for both total pay (including bonuses) and regular pay (excluding bonuses). In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), annual growth in total pay was estimated to be 1.9% and annual growth in regular pay was estimated to be 2.0%.

For the period from July to September 2019, there were an estimated 813,000 vacancies in the UK, 11,000 fewer than for the previous quarter (April to June 2019) and 34,000 fewer than for the previous year.

ONS deputy head of labour market statistics Matt Hughes, commented, “The employment rate is still rising year-on-year, but this growth has cooled noticeably in recent months. Pay growth continues to outstrip inflation, as it has done for over eighteen months now.”