UK employment rate at record high before lockdown

UK employment was estimated at a record high in the three months to February, before the effects of the coronavirus lockdown started to hit the economy.

Official figures showed 76.6% of people aged 16 to 64 were in paid work, up from 76.4% in the previous quarter.

Unemployment was estimated at 4%, up slightly on the last quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

However, early estimates for March showed a slight drop in the number of paid employees compared with February. The figures fell by 0.06%, although they were still 0.8% higher than the same period last year.

Pay in February continued to grow faster than inflation, but its rate of growth has slowed since the middle of last year. The estimated growth for pay excluding bonuses in the three-month period was 2.9%. There were an estimated 33.07 million people in employment, 352,000 more than a year earlier.