UK employment: Over a million more people will be in work by 2020 report OBR after today’s Autumn Statement
Over a million more people will be in work by the end of the current parliament, the government’s fiscal watchdog has said.
Based on its economic growth forecasts and the policies announced in today’s Autumn Statement, the Office for Budget Responsibility believes employment will rise to 32.2m by 2020.
Read more: What analysts and business make of the Autumn Statement
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed employment climbing to a record 31.21m in the three months to September. The new prediction is slightly above the OBR’s last forecast in July that predicted employment rising to 32.1m by 2020.
The unemployment rate – the percentage of the labour force that is actively looking for a job but is unable to find one – is expected to bottom out at 5.2 per cent in 2016 before edging back up to 5.4 per cent by 2020.
“Employment has grown strongly this year, taking it above 31 million for the first time. But we expect employment growth to slow over the forecast period as productivity growth recovers towards its historical average,” the OBR said. [custom id="21"]