From lockdown to pensions, 50-somethings are taking the opportunity to enjoy a Great Resignation – and it’s a disaster for the economy
Call it: The Curious Case of the Missing Workers. For months now a huge question mark has been hanging over the UK economy. The riddle has confounded the brightest economists. And, while there have been plenty of theories, the lack of a concrete answer has hugely frustrated policymakers who are struggling to fight soaring inflation and also prevent the economy from plunging into a recession.
Unemployment in the three months to the end of August fell by 0.3 percentage points compared with the second quarter to hit 3.5 per cent – the lowest level since 1974. On the face of it, the jobless rate hitting a near-half-century low would be considered unalloyed good news. Indeed, Kwasi Kwarteng, whose brief stint as chancellor coincided with the figures coming out, said they showed “the fundamentals of the UK economy remain resilient”.
Would that they were. In fact, the latest drops in unemployment may have troubling causes: a sharp rise in the number of people classed as “economically inactive”. The proportion of the working-age population in this category has just hit 21.7 per cent – a record high. A full 624,000 more people were out of the workforce in August than before Covid.
So who are these people – and what are they doing?