Andrew Griffith Claims Job Vacancies Hit Record Low

Andrew Griffith claimed during a question-and-answer session on Thursday that job vacancies are at a record low. The Shadow Chancellor made the assertion following his first speech, stating that "vacancies are at a record low".

Data from the Office for National Statistics contradicts this claim. While vacancies dropped to 702,000 in the three months leading up to August 2026, marking the lowest level since the pandemic, they fell further during the 2020-2021 lockdowns to as low as 635,000.

Official records also show that vacancy numbers remained below current levels for more than a decade between June 2001 and November 2014. The current figure of 702,000 exceeds the 680,000 vacancies recorded in June 2001, although these historical figures do not account for changes in the total population size.