The number of temporary employees in the UK fell by 8.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis to a total of approximately 1.42 million for the three-month period from October through December 2019 when compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Temporary workers are self-identified when surveyed by the ONS, and they include those who are on fixed-period contracts, temporary agency workers, casual workers, seasonal workers and others in temporary work.
The number of temporary employees as a percentage of total employment was 5.1%, down from 5.6% compared to the same period a year ago.
Compared to the previous period ended in November 2019, the number of temporary employees decreased by 2.5%.
Of the 1.42 million temporary employees during the period ended December 2019, approximately 361,000 were temporary because they could not find a permanent job; 396,000 did not want a permanent job; 112,600 had a contract with a period of training; and 551,900 cited other reasons.
Of the 1.42 million temporary workers, approximately 672,000 were men while approximately 749,800 were women.
ONS also published labour market figures for the three-months ended December 2019.
The UK employment rate was estimated at a record high of 76.5%, 0.6% higher than a year earlier and 0.4% up on the previous quarter. The highest employment rate estimate in the UK was in the South West (80.1%) and the lowest was in the North East (71.1%).
Estimates for October to December 2019 showed a record 32.93 million people aged 16 years and over in employment, 336,000 more than a year earlier. This annual increase was mainly driven by full-time workers (up 381,000 on the year to a record high of 24.42 million), women (up 298,000 to a record high of 15.61 million), and people aged 50 to 64 years (up 226,000 to a record high of 9.31 million).
The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8%, 0.2% lower than a year earlier and 0.1% lower than the previous quarter. The highest unemployment rate estimate in the UK was in the North East (6.1%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (2.4%).
The UK economic inactivity rate was estimated at a record low of 20.5%, 0.4% lower than the previous year and 0.3% lower than the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, estimated annual growth in average weekly earnings for employees slowed to 2.9% from 3.2% last month for total pay (including bonuses) and to 3.2% from 3.4% for regular pay (excluding bonuses).
In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), annual growth in total pay is estimated to be 1.4% and annual growth in regular pay is estimated to be 1.8%.
Job vacancy data showed there were an estimated 810,000 vacancies in the UK for November 2019 to January 2020; this is 50,000 fewer than a year earlier and 7,000 more than the previous quarter.
ONS deputy head of labour market statistics Myrto Miltiadou said, “Employment has continued its upward trend, with the rate nudging up to another record high. In particular, the number of women working full-time grew strongly over the past year. The number of job vacancies has also increased on the quarter, after falling for most of last year.”