UK job numbers a fillip to the leave campaign

Number of non-UK nationals working in Britain is up by 229,000 to 3.34 million year on year

For now, all UK economic data has to be seen through the prism of the looming EU referendum. It is not a question of whether the figures are good or bad in themselves, but whether they are helpful to camp remain or camp leave.

In the past week, the releases have been in favour of the Brexiteers. Industrial production was up, the trade deficit narrowed and inflation was better than the financial markets had expected. The latest report on the labour market continued the trend.

Related: Unemployment rate at record low despite stall in private sector hiring