The number of temporary employees in the UK fell 2.5% in the three months ended February 2016 when compared to the same period last year, according to seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics.

Temporary employees represented 6.2% of all employees in the three months ended February 2016, down from 6.4% in the same period last year. However, the number of temporary employees rose 0.2% when compared to the three months ended November 2015.

In all, there were almost 1.65 million temporary employees in the three months ended February 2016.

The status is based on respondents’ self-assessment and is a broader category than purely temporary agency work. Temporary employees are those who are on a fixed-period contract, agency temping, casual work, seasonal work or other temporary work, according to the ONS.

Overall, in all job types both permanent and temporary, there were 20,000 more people at work in the UK from December 2015 to February 2016 than in the September 2015 to November 2015 period, according to the ONS.

The unemployment rate was 5.1% in the three months ended February 2016, lower than the 5.6% recorded in the year-ago period.

“With more uncertainty in the economy it’s not surprising that labour market performance shows signs of levelling off, with employment growing at the slowest rate since last summer while unemployment edged up a little”, said Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills. “Employers are also having to take on increased costs associated with a range of new policies on wages and skills, which may have delayed growth plans.”

Average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain increased by 1.8% including bonuses and by 2.2% excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.