The survey that traditionally underpins the main labour market data has seen its response rate decline from almost 50 per cent a decade ago to 15 per cent this year. So bad is the data that the ONS stripped the figures of the “national statistics” kite mark on Tuesday this week, but due to the weird way the law prescribes these things, the figures are still “official statistics”.

Incredible situation for such a core piece of economic data that policymakers rely on!