Jobs market slowdown likely to become policy focus and will also have impact on interest rates decision

• UK unemployment rose to four-year high of 5.1% before budget

• Business live – latest updates

When Labour came to power, it set a “long-term ambition” of increasing the employment rate – the share of the working age population with a job – to 80%. The latest data suggest things are moving in the wrong direction.

The employment rate in the three months to October was 74.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), down 0.3 percentage points on the quarter.