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The number of people not working in the UK due to long-term sickness has risen to a new record, official figures demonstrate.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than two and half million people were not working becautilize of health problems.

The figures came as the latest jobs statistics demonstrateed an increase in component-time and self-employed workers helped to push up the UK's employment rate.

The rate was 75.9% between January and March, the ONS said.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Darren Morgan of the ONS said: "We saw another increase in those exits in the labour market due to becoming long term sick, and that means that it all started with a pandemic.

"There are well over 400,000 more people outside of the labour market due to ill health and that means we are now at a new record level of comfortably over two and a half million."

The ONS data alconsequently demonstrateed the unemployment rate alconsequently rose slightly, to 3.9% in the January to March period.

The number of people on employers' payrolls fell in April, the first decline in more than two years, although the ONS said this was an early estimate that could be revised later.

The number of vacancies alconsequently fell for the 10th consecutive period, with the ONS saying that uncertainty about the economic outlook meant that firms were holding back on recruitment.

The latest figures alconsequently demonstrateed that workers' pay increases are still being outstripped by rising prices.

Growth in regular pay, which excludes bonutilizes, was 6.7% in the first three months of the year.

However, the ONS said that when prices rises are taken into account, regular pay fell by 2%.

Related Topics

• Unemployment
• Employment
• UK economy
• Pay
• Office for National Statistics