This post was originally published on this site
The number of job vacancies in the U.K. jumped 16% from February to March, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday, as a wave of labor market data showed that the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly for the second month in a row.
While job vacancies from January to March were nearly 23% lower than the same period in the year prior, there are indications of a strong increase in March, and online job advert data suggest a potential acceleration into April, the ONS said.
Data from the statistics office indicated that there were nearly 16% more vacancies in March than in February, ahead of the widespread economic reopening that began in April following months of COVID-19 lockdowns. However, lockdown restrictions continue to affect jobs and vacancies in the arts, entertainment, and recreation, as well as accommodation and food services sectors, the ONS said.
On the jobs front, there was a quarterly decrease in the unemployment rate from December 2020 to February 2021, according to the ONS data — the first quarterly decrease since October to December 2019. The U.K. unemployment rate for the period was estimated at 4.9%, down from 5% in the period to January and below expectations of 5.1%.
However, amid widespread restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19, including a national lockdown in England, there was an increase in economic inactivity and decrease in the total number of hours worked.
Plus: U.K. economic growth rebounds from slump as trade with EU partially recovers
The unemployment rate in the U.K. has been largely managed through the COVID-19 pandemic by the government’s furlough program, under which wage subsidies are provided to businesses to support workers that would otherwise have been laid off.
Payrolls data were slightly more downbeat, showing that there was a small decrease in the number of payrolled employees in March after a few months of increases.
“Overall, the labor market report and associated early indicators suggest that there may be light at the end of the tunnel, with key metrics suggesting that the situation will improve in the coming months,” said Ellie Henderson of Investec Economics.
“However, the big unknown still remains how the labor market will react to the end of the furlough scheme at the end of September, which has so far largely helped shield the U.K. labor market from the pandemic,” Henderson added.
The employment data met an already downbeat day of trading in London, where the FTSE 100
UK:UKX
— the index of the top U.K. stocks by market capitalization, was 1.2% lower.
“Taking the lead from a weaker close on Wall Street and Asia overnight, European bourses are trending lower, with tobacco companies heading the charge southward,” said Sophie Griffiths, an analyst at Oanda, noting that some buoyancy was being added to the FTSE 100 by major oil companies and miners advancing on firmer commodity prices.
Also read: Biden administration could require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine in cigarettes
Shares in London-listed Big Tobacco companies fell following a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that the White House could introduce new regulations on nicotine levels in cigarettes, affecting how addictive the products are. Imperial Brands
IMB,
and British American Tobacco
BATS,
fell 5.5% to 6.5%, as other tobacco giants Japan Tobacco
JP:2914,
Altria
0R31,
and Philip Morris International
0M8V,
suffered share price declines.
“The Biden administration wants tobacco companies to slash the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to nonaddictive levels, which could massively undermine the long-term sales prospects of the large-caps,” Griffiths said. “These changes come at a time when tobacco companies are already facing demand headwinds.”
Shares in Czech cybersecurity firm Avast
AVST,
a FTSE 100 component, climbed 3% higher, after the group reported results for the first quarter of 2021. Revenue and adjusted earnings both grew more than 10% in the quarter compared with the same period last year, and Avast raised its forecast for the full year.
Associated British Foods
ABF,
stock sunk more than 4%, after the owner of low-cost fashion retailer Primark — which doesn’t sell its clothes online — reported earnings. Adjusted pretax profits fell 50% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period last year as COVID-19 restrictions remained in effect, though the company noted record sales in the week after shops reopened on April 12.
