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March 17, 2020UK LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, NOVEMBER 2019 TO JANUARY 2020
The UK Office for National Statistics reported today that the unemployment rate for the three-month period November 2019 to January 2020 was 3.9 per cent, little changed from recent estimates. Over the last six years, there has been a steady decline in the UK unemployment rate, falling to lows not seen since 1974.
For the Nov-19 to Jan-20 period, the estimated employment rate was at a joint record high of 76.5 per cent, 0.4 percentage points higher than a year ago.
The reduction in the UK unemployment rate observed over the last 5-6 years has resulted from rising employment outpacing the growth in the labour force. A similar trend of employment growth in excess of labour supply growth has been observed in Canada and Nova Scotia as well, but this has been more pronounced only in the last 2-3 years.
Sources: UK Office for National Statistics: Labour Market Overview and Employment in the UK: January 2020;
Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0287-02 Labour force characteristics by age group, monthly, seasonally adjusted
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