The UK’s labour market experienced sharp growth in December despite a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant and the British government implementing “Plan B” restrictions, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday. Employers added a record 184,000 staff to their payrolls in December, up 409,000 on the February 2020 level before the pandemic, bringing the total to 29.5 million employees in the UK. “Our latest Labour Force Survey estimates for September to November 2021 show a continuing recovery in the labour market, with a quarterly increase in the employment rate, while the unemployment rate decreased,” ONS said. Meanwhile, the unemployment dropped by 0.4 percentage points for the three months to the end of November to 4.1 percent, close to the 4 percent level seen in the last pre-pandemic quarter. The number of job vacancies in October to December also rose to a new record of 1,247,000, an increase of 462,000 from the pre-pandemic January …