According to a think tank, the flow of migrants has eased a the weak pound and rise of hate crimes have deterred Europeans away from the UK. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has said the sterling’s 16% fall against the euro has made Britain less financially attractive.
It is claimed that despite net migration at a record level of 330,000 the rise of unemployment predicted by economists will make foreign workers travel elsewhere and will slow migration.
This year EU nationals accounted for the largest new employment share comprising of 280,000 of the 610,000 jobs.
Jonathan Portes a senior research fellow at the institute said: “Over the next two years, before any changes in the law or policy have any impact, a sharp fall in net migration from the EU appears likely.”
In recent months jobs growth in Britain has slowed and the institute expects unemployment to rise from 4.9% to 5.6% in 2017. This predicting comes as the EU unemployment rate has fallen 9.2% to 8.6%.
