The number of º£½ÇÊÓÆµ workers on payrolls rose by 108,000 between December and January to 29.5 million, the Office for National Statistics said.
Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The number of employees on payrolls rose again in January 2022 and is now well above pre-pandemic levels.
“However, our labour force survey shows the number of people in employment overall is well below where it was before Covid-19 hit.
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“This is because there are now far fewer self-employed people.
“The survey also shows that unemployment has fallen again and is now only fractionally above where it was before the pandemic.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “Our £400 billion economic plan has protected our jobs market through the pandemic and it is now healthier than most could have hoped for.
“Payrolled employee numbers are at a record high and redundancies are at an all-time low thanks to our plan for jobs.
“We’re continuing to help more people into work and are providing support for the cost of living worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next.”