The number of temporary employees in the UK fell by 6.7% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis to a total of approximately 1.42 million for the three-month period from August through October 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, temporary agency workers, 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 September 2019, the number of temporary employees fell by 1.5%.

Of the 1.42 million temporary employees during the period ended September 2019, approximately 365,000 were temporary because they could not find a permanent job; 371,000 did not want a permanent job; 127,000 had a contract with a period of training; and 556,000 cited other reasons.

Of the 1.42 million temporary workers, approximately 687,500 were men while approximately 737,700 were women.

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

The UK employment rate was estimated at 76.2% during the period, 0.4% higher than a year earlier but little changed on the previous quarter.  The highest employment rate estimate in the UK was in the South West (80.8%) and the lowest was in the North East (70.9%).

At the same time the UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8%, 0.3% lower than a year earlier but largely unchanged on the previous quarter. The highest unemployment rate estimate in the UK was in the North East (6.1%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (2.3%).

The UK unemployment rate for men was 4.0%, 0.2% lower than a year earlier but largely unchanged on the previous quarter. At the same time, the UK unemployment rate for women was a record low of 3.5%, down 0.4% on the year and down 0.1% on the quarter.

ONS head of labour market and households David Freeman commented, “While the estimate of the employment rate nudged up in the most recent quarter, the longer-term picture has seen it broadly flat over the last few quarters. However, unemployment among women has reached a new record low.”

Meanwhile the UK economic inactivity rate was estimated at 20.8%, 0.2% lower than a year earlier but largely unchanged on the previous quarter.

Estimated annual growth in average weekly earnings for employees in the UK slowed to 3.2% for total pay (including bonuses) and 3.5% for regular pay (excluding bonuses).

The annual growth in total pay was weakened by unusually high bonus payments paid in October 2018 compared with more typical average bonus payments paid in October 2019.

In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), annual growth in total pay is estimated to be 1.5%, and annual growth in regular pay is estimated to be 1.8%.

“Pay is still increasing in real terms, but its growth rate has slowed in the last few months,” Freeman said.

ONS also showed that there were an estimated 794,000 vacancies in the UK for September to November 2019, 59,000 fewer than a year earlier and 20,000 fewer than last quarter.

“Vacancies have fallen for ten months in a row and are now below 800,000 for the first time in over two years,” Freeman commented.

Neil Carberry CEO at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, also commented on today’s figures, “Today’s figures show why the government needs to be focused on making great work happen. Uncertainty before the election took its toll, with the gentle slowdown we have seen in the jobs market over the past few months continuing, led by a tenth successive month of falling vacancies.”

“Taking a longer-term view, we should remember that overall performance is strong,” Carberry continued. “And a lot has changed since this data was collected. It remains to be seen if the clarity the election result has delivered will translate into businesses launching the ambitious hiring plans they have been cautiously putting on hold, as our data has shown for many months.”