Britain’s labour market is an international outlier. While joblessness is near all-time lows, the UK is on track to be the only country in the developed world with employment still below its pre-pandemic level by early next year. There are over 600,000 more economically inactive individuals than in early 2020 — making it the only developed country where the share of working-age people outside the workforce has risen so significantly and persistently since the onset of Covid-19. This has damped output and added pressure to wages, which keeps prices higher. Unless it gets to grips with the problem, Britain’s economic woes will only deepen.Boosting its workforce will be crucial in raising the country’s economic prospects. A high level of withdrawals from the labour market not only stokes inflation, which puts more onus on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, it also means lower tax revenues and even less funding for already stretched public services. For the many out of work and with limited sustenance, it is a further drain on living standards as the costs of goods and energy soar.
英國的勞動力市場在國際上是個異類。儘管失業率接近歷史最低水準，但到明年初，英國可能成爲唯一一個就業率仍低於疫情前水準的發達國家。與2020年初相比，非經濟活動人口增加了60多萬。因此在英國的勞動年齡人口中，非就業者所佔比例自疫情暴發以來持續大幅上升，這在發達國家中是絕無僅有的。這抑制了產出，增加了工資上漲壓力，從而進一步推高了物價。除非釐清並著手處理這個問題，否則英國只會在經濟困境中越陷越深。