The UK employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point between November 2021 and January 2022 to hit 75.6%, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The number of payrolled employees increased by 275,000 in February 2022 to a record 29.7 million.

However, the number of self-employed workers remains low following decreases throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full-time employees drove the increase in the employment rate during the last three-month period.

The unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points in the quarter to 3.9%.

Nye Cominetti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said:

"The UK labour market continued to strengthen in early 2022, with unemployment falling to 3.9 per cent in the three months to January, nearing a record low.

"The huge increase in older workers exiting the labour market suggests we may be reaching the limits of Britain's jobs recovery."

However, the number of job vacancies in December 2021 to February 2022 rose to a new record of 1,318,000, an increase of 105,000, although the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down.

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