THE number of Brits on payrolls across the UK rose by 108,000 between December and January, the Office for National Statistics said.
It means close to 30 million are in work as the jobs market makes a continuing recovery.
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A jump in employment rate, of 0.1% to 75.5%, meant the unemployment rate also reduced by 0.2% to 4.1% over the three months to December.
Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The number of employees on payrolls rose again in January 2022 and is now well above pre-pandemic levels.
“However, our labour force survey shows the number of people in employment overall is well below where it was before Covid-19 hit.
“This is because there are now far fewer self-employed people.
“The survey also shows that unemployment has fallen again and is now only fractionally above where it was before the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, total pay growth rose to 4.3% for the quarter to December – from 4.2% for the three months to November – but continued to lag behind inflation.
The latest figures on inflation showed numbers had soared to a near 30-year high of 5.4% back in December.
The new data only means more pressure is likely to be put on the Bank of England to increase interest rates more quickly.
For the three months to October unemployment was 4.2%.
The rate of unemployment was 4.3% from July to September, figures released prior to that showed, and for the three months to August, last summer the rate was 4.5%.
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