What's going on?

Data out on Tuesday showed that UK employment is back to pre-pandemic levels, as the country�s do-gooders commit to staying six pints apart at all times.

What does this mean?

Plenty of UK companies have been forced to let staff go in the last 18 months, with the country�s hospitality sector hit particularly hard. But British pub-goers are nothing if not dedicated to their local, and they�ve been more than happy to get the sector back on its feet. That helped boost the number of employed Brits by a record 207,000 last month. There are still over a million job vacancies still up for grabs too, which might be no bad thing: the government ditched economic support for a million workers last month, and they might need those posts pronto if their pandemic-bruised employers can�t afford to keep them on.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Brexit doesn�t play nice.
The jobs market isn�t all rainbows, mind you: there�s still a shortage of lorry drivers and food sector workers, both of which are vital to a sustained economic recovery. And while the government has brought in measures to allow foreign workers to fill the roles, that�s only a temporary fix. Businesses, then, are asking for those measures to be extended, as well as calling for more investment in training up UK workers so they can play their part.

For markets: To raise or not to raise.
This update might prove to the Bank of England that the country�s recovery is coming along nicely, which could encourage it to press ahead with plans to raise interest rates. But analysts aren�t convinced: they reckon price rises are putting enough pressure on spenders, and that any rate increases could derail the recovery. That might be why those same analysts think the British pound will fall by 4% before the year�s out.