The Latest Breaking News from Office for National Statistics

The number of workers on payrolls jumped by 275,000 between January and February to a fresh record of 29.7 million, the ONS said.

Those on a payroll system rose by 275,000 between January and February to 29.7 million, the Office for National Statistics said - but wage growth is still failing to keep up with inflation

The ONS said the changes show 'the impact of the pandemic still evident in our shopping habits'

Three in five over-50s have left the workforce sooner than planned since the pandemic started, with many taking early retirement

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine offer a glimmer of hope as this war approaches its third week. Representatives from both sides suggest that negotiations, which remain ongoing, may yield progress. Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, and ordinary Russians seeing their economy suffocate under crippling sanctions, must hope so.

Doughnuts have been thrown out and meat-free sausages added to the official basket of goods used to calculate the rate of inflation, in a reflection of increasingly health-conscious British lifestyles.

The ONS said it would remove men’s suits from its basket of goods to calculate inflation as more people work from home.

Sajid Javid said the rise was ‘expected’ given the increase in social mixing

Pet collars and casual clothing are replacing takeaway doughnuts and men's two-piece suits this year as Britain's statisticians update their inflation calculations to account for pandemic trends. The biggest changes to the inflation basket for 2022 are around food after people ate more at home last year, and increasingly chose…

Formal clothes removed from list for first time since 1947, with doughnuts and coal also taken out

According to the Health Secretary, 99.9 per cent of infections in Britain are the Omicron variant