Vacancies and jobs in the UK: February 2020

Estimates of the number of vacancies and jobs for the UK.

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Contact:
Email Debra Leaker

Release date:
18 February 2020

Next release:
17 March 2020

1. Other pages in this release

Other commentary from the latest labour market data can be found on the following pages:

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2. Main points

  • There were an estimated 810,000 vacancies in the UK for November 2019 to January 2020; this is 7,000 more than the previous quarter but 50,000 fewer than a year earlier.

  • This is the first three-monthly increase in vacancies since November 2018 to January 2019, when it was a record high of 861,000; despite falling vacancies in 2019, vacancy levels are still high.

  • For September 2019, there were an estimated 35.75 million jobs in the UK; this is an increase of 77,000 jobs when compared with June 2019 and an increase of 652,000 jobs when compared with the same period the previous year.

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The data in this bulletin come from surveys of businesses. It is not feasible to survey every business in the UK, so these statistics are estimates based on samples, not precise figures.

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3. Vacancies for November 2019 to January 2020

The estimated number of vacancies in the UK fell sharply during the recession of 2008 to 2009. Since 2012, it has generally increased, reaching a record high in November 2018 to January 2019. For November 2019 to January 2020, there were an estimated 810,000 vacancies in the UK; this is 7,000 more than for the previous quarter (August to October 2019) but 50,000 fewer than for the previous year.

For November 2019 to January 2020, it is estimated that:

  • there were 810,000 vacancies in the UK; this is 7,000 more than for the three months to October 2019 (the first quarterly increase since November 2018 to January 2019) but 50,000 fewer than for the previous year (this is the eighth consecutive annual fall)

  • there were 2.7 job vacancies per 100 employee jobs across the economy as a whole

  • there were 137,000 vacancies in the human health and social work activities sector (making it the largest sector for the eighth consecutive period), a rise of 4,000 compared with a year earlier; this accounted for 16.9% of all vacancies in the UK

  • the sectors showing the largest annual falls were “manufacturing” and “information and communication”, with both sectors falling by 10,000 compared with a year earlier

  • the sector showing the highest vacancy rate was “accommodation and food service activities”, with 3.9 vacancies per 100 employee jobs

  • the sectors showing the lowest vacancy rate were “public admin and defence” and “water supply, sewerage, waste and remediation activities”, both at 1.7 job vacancies per 100 employee jobs

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4. Jobs for September 2019 (first published on 17 December 2019)

The number of jobs is not the same as the number of people in employment. This is because a person can have more than one job. Estimates for the number of people in employment are available in Employment in the UK.

It is estimated that:

  • the number of jobs has been generally increasing since 2013

  • between June 2019 and September 2019, the total number of jobs in the UK increased by 77,000 to reach an estimated 35.75 million; this is a record high

  • there were an estimated 4.98 million jobs in the “wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles” sector in September 2019; this represents 13.9% of total jobs in September 2019.

  • the next highest sector was “human health and social work”, with an estimated 4.49 million jobs

  • several sectors were at a record high in September 2019, including “human health and social work” (4.49 million jobs), “administrative and support service activities” (3.09 million jobs), “education” (2.95 million jobs), and “accommodation and food service activities” (2.51 million jobs)

  • between September 2018 and September 2019, the total number of jobs in the UK increased by 652,000

The sector showing the largest estimated quarterly increase in jobs was “administrative and support service activities” (up 29,000 on the quarter).

The sector showing the largest estimated annual increase in jobs was “professional, scientific and technical activities” (up 149,000 on the year).

The sector showing the largest estimated quarterly and annual decrease in jobs was “construction” (down 42,000 on the quarter and 59,000 on the year).

These jobs estimates were first published on 17 December 2019. The jobs estimates will next be updated on 17 March 2020.

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5. Vacancies and jobs data

Vacancies by industry
Dataset VACS02 | Released 18 February 2020
Estimates of vacancies by industry (Standard Industrial Classification 2007).

Workforce jobs summary
Dataset JOBS01 | Released 17 December 2019
Estimates of jobs by type of job (including employee jobs, self-employment jobs, HM Forces and government-supported trainees).

Workforce jobs by industry
Dataset JOBS02 | Released 17 December 2019
Estimates of jobs by industry (Standard Industrial Classification 2007).

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6. Glossary

Vacancies

Vacancies are defined as positions for which employers are actively seeking recruits from outside their business or organisation. The estimates are based on the Vacancy Survey; this is a survey of businesses designed to provide estimates of the stock of vacancies across the economy, excluding “agriculture, forestry and fishing” (a small sector for which the collection of estimates would not be practical).

Jobs

A job is an activity performed for an employer or customer by a worker in exchange for payment, usually in cash, or in kind, or both. The number of jobs is not the same as the number of people in employment. This is because a person can have more than one job. The number of jobs is the sum of employee jobs from employer surveys, self-employment jobs from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), those in HM Forces and government-supported trainees. The number of people in employment is measured by the LFS; these estimates are available in our Employment in the UK release.

A more detailed glossary is available.

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7. Measuring the data

After EU withdrawal

As the UK leaves the EU, it is important that our statistics continue to be of high quality and are internationally comparable. During the transition period, those UK statistics that align with EU practice and rules will continue to do so in the same way as before 31 January 2020.

After the transition period, we will continue to produce our labour market statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority’s (UKSA’s) Code of Practice for Statistics and in accordance with International Labour Organization (ILO) definitions and agreed international statistical guidance.

Estimates of jobs are compiled from a number of sources, including Short-Term Employment Surveys (STES), the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). STES is a group of surveys that collect employment and turnover information from private sector businesses. In December of each year, the jobs estimates are “benchmarked” to the latest estimates from the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES).

Estimates of vacancies are obtained from the Vacancy Survey, a survey of employers.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in the Vacancy Survey and Workforce jobs QMI reports.

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8. Strengths and limitations

Accuracy of the statistics: estimating and reporting uncertainty

The figures in this bulletin mainly come from surveys of businesses, which gather information from a sample rather than from the whole population. The samples are designed to be as accurate as possible given practical limitations such as time and cost constraints. Results from sample surveys are always estimates, not precise figures. This can have an impact on how changes in the estimates should be interpreted, especially for short-term comparisons.

As the number of people available in the sample gets smaller, the variability of the estimates that we can make from that sample size gets larger. Estimates for small groups (for example, vacancies in the construction industry), which are based on small subsets of the Vacancy Survey sample, are less reliable and tend to be more volatile than for larger aggregated groups (for example, total vacancies in the UK).

In general, short-term changes in the growth rates reported in this bulletin are not usually greater than the level that can be explained by sampling variability. Short-term movements in reported rates should be considered alongside longer-term patterns in the series and corresponding movements in other sources to give a fuller picture.

Further information is available in A guide to labour market statistics.

Sampling variability information for jobs is available in Table 1 in this bulletin and in dataset JOBS07: Workforce jobs sampling variability.

The sampling variability of the three-month average vacancies level is around plus or minus 1.5% of that level.

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Contact details for this Statistical bulletin

Debra Leaker
labour.market@ons.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1633 455874