Economy UK trade in goods by classification of product by activity (CPA 2008): Oct to Dec 2016 Employment and labour market UK labour market statistics: Mar 2017 Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between August to October 2016 and the 3 months to January 2017, the number of people in work increased, the number of unemployed people fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) also fell. There were 31.85 million people in work, 92,000 more than for August to October 2016 and 315,000 more than for a year earlier. Regional labour market statistics in the UK: Mar 2017 For the 3 months ending January 2017, the highest employment rate in the UK was in the South East (78.5%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (69.4%). The employment rate estimates for those aged 16 to 64 for November 2016 to January 2017 compared with August to October 2016, showed few large movements for the regions and countries of the UK. Public sector employment, UK: Dec 2016
Total UK public sector employment in December 2016 was 5.436 million, 1,000 less than for the previous quarter and 8,000 less than the previous year.
Central government employment was up 27,000 on the previous quarter at 2.975 million, the highest since comparable records began in 1999. People in employment on a zero-hours contract: Mar 2017 The number of people employed on "zero-hours contracts" in their main job, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), during October to December 2016 was 905,000, representing 2.8% of all people in employment. This latest estimate is 101,000 higher than that for October to December 2015 (804,000 or 2.5% of people in employment). In recent years, increases in the number of people reporting to the LFS that they were on a zero-hours contract were likely to have been affected by greater awareness and recognition of the term "zero-hours contract". This latest annual change may also have been affected in this way but it is not possible to estimate the extent. Labour market economic commentary: Mar 2017
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in the 3 months to January 2017, from 5.1% a year earlier; it has not been lower since June to August 1975.
The rate of wage growth slowed in the 3 months to January 2017; adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings grew at their slowest rate since November 2014.
The number of vacancies remained broadly unchanged. Gin has been reintroduced to the ONS Basket of Goods after a 13-year absence. Non-dairy milk has been introduced to the Basket for the first time, representing increasing popularity of dairy-free foods Find out more about what's in & what's out through our interactive article. 
What's in the Basket of Goods and how has it changed over time? Scroll through 70 years of shopping history in our interactive timeline.  | 
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