Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the Office for National Statistics publishes its latest UK labour market report
The number of people on UK company payrolls also appears to have fallen last month.
The ONS estimates that payrolled employment decreased by 85,000 employees in April when compared with March.
“We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling, with both employment from our household survey and the number of workers on payroll showing falls in the latest periods.
“At the same time the steady decline in the number of job vacancies has continued for a twenty-second consecutive month, although numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels. With unemployment also increasing, the number of unemployed people per vacancy has continued to rise, approaching levels seen before the onset of COVID-19.
