What’s Going On Here?Data out on Tuesday showed that job vacancies in the UK hit an all-time high last month, as Brits ditch the heels and leave the corporate world behind them. What Does This Mean?The UK added 108,000 new jobs in January, bringing the number of workers in the country to a record high of nearly 30 million. But that’s a drop in the ocean: job openings rose to their own record high of 1.3 million last month, as companies try to plug the gap left by the 400,000 people who stopped working or looking for work during the pandemic. And sure, some of those might be older workers who want to embrace their golden years, but some of them are probably just the burned-out millennials who were tired of the nine-to-five. Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: Brits could get thrifty.
There is one way companies could bring disillusioned Brits back to work: pay them the big bucks. So that’s exactly what they’ve been doing, sending the average wage in the country up 3.6% in December from the year before. Thing is, the prices of goods and services have been rising quicker than that, so “real wages” – i.e. those adjusted for inflation – actually fell by 1.2%. Keep in mind too that the government is planning to raise taxes in April, which could empty those pay packets even quicker.
Zooming out: Relaxed rules, uptight economists.
The Japanese have certainly been spending their hard-earned paychecks: data out on Tuesday showed that shoppers spent even more last quarter than the quarter before, helping the country’s economy grow 1.7% in 2021. That’s the first time it’s grown in three years, but the country's not off to a good start if it wants a repeat performance: some economists are expecting Omicron to stall economic growth all over again this quarter. | 
