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.
英国的劳动力市场在国际上是个异类。尽管失业率接近历史最低水平，但到明年初，英国可能成为唯一一个就业率仍低于疫情前水平的发达国家。与2020年初相比，非manbetx20客户端下载 活动人口增加了60多万。因此在英国的劳动年龄人口中，非就业者所占比例自疫情暴发以来持续大幅上升，这在发达国家中是绝无仅有的。这抑制了产出，增加了工资上涨压力，从而进一步推高了物价。除非厘清并着手处理这个问题，否则英国只会在manbetx20客户端下载 困境中越陷越深。