The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain has risen by nearly 50,000 in the past year to a total of 189,000, according to official figures published on Wednesday.
The increase comes mostly after the remaining work restrictions on migrants from the two countries were lifted on 1 January and may include a large element of people who were already living in Britain and have now regularised their position in the workforce.
The latest Labour Force Survey figures show that overall the number of European nationals working in Britain dipped 30,000 from 1,847,000 in June this year to 1,817,000 by the end of September but this is 182,000 higher than in September 2013.
The number of migrants from outside Europe employed in Britain has also risen over the past year by 130,000 to 2.9 million, with Africans accounting for a large element of the increase.
But the Labour Force Survey provides little evidence of displacement of British workers by migrants. British workers accounted for two-thirds or 445,000 of the extra 675,000 people working in the British economy. Foreign nationals accounted for 230,000 or one-third of the increase in employment over the past year.
The quarterly figures show that there was actually a 30,000 reduction in European migration to Britain between June and September this year.
But the fall is more likely to do with seasonal variations than as a result of David Cameron’s high profile campaign to restrict free movement rights across Europe. He made clear last year that he wants to see EU labour market rules reformed so that the economies of poorer countries have to reach a certain proportion of average EU output and growth before their migrants can gain full access to the UK job market.
The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain actually fell in the first three months after labour market restrictions were lifted on 1 January, down from 150,000 to 147,000.
The Oxford University Migration Observatory has said that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians living in Britain grew by about 20,000 a year in the five years before the end of the labour market controls in January.
