Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 January 2022, Official Report, column 11, if he will set out the evidential basis for his statement that there are now record numbers of people in work, 420,000 more than there were before the pandemic began.

Looking at the payroll employment measure of people in work, the most recent statistical release shows there were 29.4 million people in work in November 2021 – 424,000 more than in February 2020 and a new record high, compared with the previous high of 29.175 million in October 2021.

(Source: Office for National Statistics, Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK: December 2021, December 2021).

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/earningsandemploymentfrompayasyouearnrealtimeinformationuk/latest