The new ONS employment figures for April to June 2022 released today show that UK job vacancies have fallen for the first time in two years by 19,800 to 1.274m.
The UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 years decreased by 0.1% on the quarter to 75.5%, and is still below pre-pandemic levels. However, the number of people in employment aged 16 years and over rose by 160,000.
The unemployment rate increased by 0.1% on the quarter to 3.8%.
The number of job vacancies in the hospitality sector has risen by almost 100,000 since before the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.
The industry hit 174,000 vancancies in June, a rise of 44,000 (34%) compared to last year.
CEO of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, said, “Staff shortages have been at a record high in the hospitality industry for some time, causing thousands of operators to cut trading hours or close for whole days, at a cost of £21bn in lost revenue.
“At the same time, operating costs are soaring across the board for businesses already carrying heavy debt levels from the pandemic.
'The industry needs urgent support from the Government if it is to survive and generate jobs and growth. In short, the recovery of both the sector and the UK economy are being threatened by the workforce crisis.”