In the UK in April, small businesses with one to nine employees had 2,100 fewer vacancies compared to the previous official benchmark of 150,000 in March’s Vacancy Survey, published by the Office for National Statistics.
That’s a -1.42% monthly drop to 147,900 vacancies – a smaller drop than in March, when the index predicted a -4.98% drop.
The number of small business vacancies fell in all sectors. Sectors with the biggest declines were:
- Information and communication (SIC J) – such as book publishing, newspapers and magazines – with a decrease of -3.12% to 5,400 vacancies
- Wholesale and retail trade (SIC G) – such as textile wholesalers, home furnishing stores and hardware stores – down -2.90% to 18,700 vacancies
- Administrative and support service activities (SIC N) – such as travel agencies, cleaning services and landscaping companies – down -2.54% to 1,600 vacancies
Sectors with the smallest decline in small business vacancies were:
- Real estate (SIC L) – including estate agents and management services – down -0.48% to 5,800 vacancies
- Construction (SIC F) — including roofing and demolition services — down -1.07% to 900 vacancies
- Transport and storage (SIC H) — such as taxi companies and rail support services — fell -1.32% to 10,200 vacancies.
Regionally, Scotland had the biggest fall in the UK, down -2.58% to 9,000 small business vacancies. Wales had the smallest fall, down -0.85% to 5,200 vacancies.
Ufuk Akcigit, Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, said: “The UK economy has been struggling with various macroeconomic problems, including inflationary pressures due to high energy and food prices.
“The chief economist at the Bank of England has also raised concerns about secondary effects such as wage increases, why inflation has been higher and the disinflationary process has been slower than in the US and Canada. Consistent with these macro-level observations, UK job vacancies have seen a significant decline of -1.42% in April, a continued decline since February 2022.
“Although vacancies are still above pre-pandemic levels, they have lost most of the gains generated between the June 2020 dip and the February 2022 peak. Since vacancies are correlated with hunger for economic activity, these negative numbers can potentially be interpreted as a contraction in small business activities.
“The decline in April was led by Scotland (-2.58%) at regional level and “Information and Communication” (-3.12%) at sector level. Unfortunately, the decline was across all regions and sectors with heterogeneous sizes. The mildest decreases were observed in Wales (-0.85%) and “Real Estate” (-0.48%).
“The outlook for the near future for the UK economy remains bleak and the smallest businesses are the first to be hit by the adverse conditions. This makes it even more important to monitor small business activity in the UK, and Intuit QuickBooks Small The Business Index can provide valuable insight in these turbulent times.”
—————————————————-
Source link