UK vacancies fall to lowest for five years as wages grow faster than expected

Employers wary of hiring permanent staff but unemployment eased to 4.9% in the three months to April The number of UK job vacancies fell to its lowest level for five years as businesses cut back on recruitment, official figures show, despite signs the labour market has been more resilient to the Iran war than feared. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed unemployment eased to 4.9% in the three months to April, from 5% in the three months to March. However, the number of people in employment also fell, especially in the retail and hospitality industries, indicating that employers became wary of hiring new staff as the war began. The number of job vacancies in the March to May period fell by 19,000 to 707,000, the ONS said, the lowest level since February to April 2021. Average wage growth excluding bonuses remained the same at 3.4%, and rose 4.4% including bonuses, flat on the previous month after a revision up from 4.1%. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain at 5%, and for wage growth to ease to 4%. Annual average regular earnings growth was 5.1% for the public sector and 2.9% for the private sector. The Bank of England’s governor, Andr