Jobs applications during December lowest in five years
The number of people applying for jobs in December was the lowest it had been in five years, despite the current unemployment rate.
Just 2.2 million job applications were made last month, down just more than a third (34%) when compared with the same time in 2019, according to jobs site Broadbean Technology.
The job board said the change could be explained by the recent extension of the government’s furlough scheme.
Elsewhere the data showed that vacancies were up 4 per cent this month in the first week of January compared to the middle of December, despite the UK entering lockdown once again.
Broadbean Technology managing director Alex Fourlis said: “It is encouraging to see that 2021 has got off to a good start with vacancy levels up when compared to the middle of December. It remains to be seen how the employment market fares in the coming weeks and months, though.
“With the vaccination programme in full swing and many employers better able to facilitate remote working we are quietly confident that the positivity we have seen so far will continue.”
Separate research from Rest Less, a digital community for the over 50s, found those aged over 50 and unemployed were two and a half times as likely as younger age groups to be out of work for at least two years.
Some 407,000 unemployed over-50s in the UK make up nearly a quarter (24%) of all unemployed people, according to the ONS.