New data has revealed that the number of those without work in the UK construction sector is down 23% year-on-year
Dominick Sandford, Managing Director atย IronmongeryDirectย andย ElectricalDirect, said:
โLike most industries, UK construction took a massive hit during the pandemic and sadly thousands of workers found themselves unemployed. However, new data has revealed that the number of those without work in the sector is down 23% year-on-year, suggesting stability has started to return.
โBetween December 2021 and February 2022, there were 54,000 unemployed construction workers, which is 16,000 fewer than the year before. Last winter, the number reached 70,000, which was just shy of the COVID-19 peak of 75,000 (July to September 2020).
โThe recent drop of 4,000 is the sharpest decrease in unemployment in eight months.
โRedundancies are also significantly down year-on-year. There were 5,000 over the winter, which is 44% fewer than the equivalent period 12 months ago (9,000).
โWith more people in the sector, itโs perhaps unsurprising that the average hours worked and earnings for each individual fell slightly, but they remain high.
โWeekly earnings now stand at ยฃ680 on average, which is ยฃ13 less than a month before. However, the ยฃ693 figure reported in January is the highest since records began 22 years prior, and the February wage was still up 6% from last year.
โSimilarly, the average number of hours worked each week dropped a little from 35.2 to 35.1, but this is still 8% higher than 2021.
โThe drop in unemployment is fantastic news for UK construction and follows recent increases in the overall number of workers. This data hopefully suggests that weโre set for a positive summer, with plenty of opportunities for the excellent people working in the sector.โ
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