Office for National Statistics data for the three months to May, released this morning, reveals the UK’s unemployment rate remained at 4.2%, while the proportion of people in work rose to a record high of 75.7%.

However, wage growth slipped slightly to 2.7% from 2.8% over the period.

Commenting on the data, Tara Sinclair, economist and senior fellow at the global job site Indeed, said Britain’s job creation boom was running on empty but refuses to stall: “For years it has successfully piled on more jobs and tempted ever more people to join the workforce.

“But the fuel on which the labour market runs – people wanting to get into work – is getting scarcer. So it’s both impressive and surprising that it is still managing to meet the demands of the economy’s job creation engine.”

Meanwhile, Martin Talbot, director at careers site totaljobs, pointed to a buyer’s market for candidates: “The onus is now on employers to make a strong case to potential employees on why they’re the best place to work and offer attractive packages, whether that be salary, training opportunities and softer work perks.

“Employees looking to change jobs are in a position to be picky and should use this opportunity to negotiate their package.”

But Julia Kermode, CEO at trade association the FCSA attributed the increase in the UK’s total workforce to a combination of permanent and contingent working. Both self-employment and temporary employment increased over the quarter by +35,000 and +1,000 respectively.

“While self-employment was 8,000 (-0.2%) lower year-on-year, this was a period during which public authorities were legislated to re-evaluate the legitimacy of engaging any worker under this status.

“The fact that after a recent dip, self-employment has how stabilised at 4.8m is good news for the economy, as FCSA’s analysis of BEIS Business Population Estimates suggest that self-employment is worth £271bn to the economy.

“It’s also good news for firms that engage self-employed professionals – not only do they benefit from hiring specific skills, the businesses are also more agile and reactive to changing circumstances,” Kermode added.

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