However, job opportunities continued to disappear. Vacancies fell by 21,000 to 691,000 in the three months to September, the largest quarterly decline since the start of the year.
Outside the pandemic, vacancies were last at or below this level in 2014.
David Freeman, deputy director of labour market statistics at the ONS, said the employment rate had edged upwards while unemployment had fallen slightly.
He added: “The number of workers on payroll remains slightly down over the same period, though data for the most recent month suggests that might be starting to level off.
“The number of vacancies has seen its largest fall since the start of the year, concentrated mainly within smaller businesses, which cite increased labour costs as a key factor.
“Regular wage growth remained relatively stable, though total pay, including bonuses, has eased to its lowest rate in nearly six years.”
The shortage of vacancies is placing particular pressure on young people trying to enter the workforce.
There are now 715,000 unemployed people aged between 16 and 24. This was 28,000 fewer than in the previous quarter but 54,000 higher than a year ago.
