UK labour force 39;inactivity39; rate hits 8year high of 22.2
Inactive workingage Britons highest since 2012 at 9.4 mln
Sickness and study drive rise in inactivity since 2020
No other G7 nation still has more inactivity than in 2020
Recordlow share of inactive workers say they want a job

LONDON, April 17 Reuters Four years since the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, Britain remains beset by a persistent rise in workingage people who do not have a job and are not seeking one, a trend that sets it apart from its peers.

Britain is the only Group of Seven economy where the share of workingage people outside the workforce remains higher than before the pandemic, slowing its growth and boosting inflation.

A smaller size of the workforce in proportion to the population typically reduces average economic output, which if not matched by an equivalent drop in demand for goods and services puts upward pressure on inflation.

The country39;s fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, says rising labour market inactivity is likely to cancel out the positive impact on the economy of a growing population and last month it cut its estimate for output per person, in part because of the problem.

Last July, the OBR estimated a 1.2 percentage point rise in the inactivity rate would reduce gross domestic product by 1.5 and increase annual government borrowing by 21 billion pounds 26 billion.

The Bank of England is worried that a smaller workforce will sustain inflation…