- By Michael Race
- Business reporter, BBC News
Image source, Getty Images
More than a fifth of adults in the UK are deemed not to be actively looking for work, official figures suggest.
The UK’s economic inactivity rate was 21.8% between November and January, marginally higher than a year earlier.
It means 9.2 million people aged between 16 and 64 in the UK are not in work nor looking for a job. The total figure is more than 700,000 higher than before the coronavirus pandemic.
Concerns have been raised over worker shortages affecting the UK economy.
The health of the UK economy is in the spotlight with the general election set to be called in the coming months and both major political parties pledging to boost growth.
The UK fell into recession at the end of last year when the economy shrank for two consecutive three-month periods, but latest official statistics showed the level of unemployment remained steady. The figure also showed that wage rises slowed again, although pay is still outpacing inflation.
However, the number of people not employed…
