ICAEW chart of the week – What we do

Our chart this week is on the subject of what the 66.6 million people that live in the United Kingdom do.

31.6m (47%) of UK citizens, are in full or part time work, not including 0.9m students in part-time jobs. About 4.8m of those working are self-employed, while the remaining 26.8m are employees. Although 47% may sound a relatively low share of the total, children and students make up a quarter of the population and a further 11.7m (18% of the population) are retired.

Just under 10% of the working age population are not in work. With 2.0m (3%) not working because of illness or disability and 3.2m (5%) who are homemakers or who have chosen not to work for other reasons that leaves just 1.2m who are registered as unemployed and looking for work.

Many are likely to find jobs within a relatively short period – 0.7m have been unemployed for less than six months – meaning that around half a million people have been unemployed for longer. Less than 1% of the population.

This is almost full employment. What is surprising is we have yet to see any significant upward pressure on wages. Whether you blame structural changes in the labour market, Brexit or wider economic uncertainties, something is up with the usual demand and supply dynamic.

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