UK job vacancies reach 20-year high

The number of job vacancies in the UK has hit a record high, according to the latest official figures.

Vacancies hit 1.1 million between July and September, the Office for National Statistics said, the highest level since records began in 2001.

The largest increase in vacancies was in the retail sector and in motor vehicle repair, it said.

The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.5%, compared with a rate of 5% before the pandemic.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it was "encouraging" to see the government's jobs strategy working.

"The number of expected redundancies remained very low in September, there are more employees on payrolls than ever before and the unemployment rate has fallen for eight months in a row."

However, Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said labour market shortages "could stunt" the UK's economic recovery from the pandemic.

"The recovery is testing the capacity of the economy to adjust to a new post-pandemic environment, a task made more difficult by the reduced availability of overseas workers," she said.

"Acute skill shortages have pushed vacancies to record levels for a second month in a row in September, as employers struggled to find skilled staff."