The retail and wholesale sector saw the biggest fall in the number of workers on company payrolls, with 65,000 jobs lost in the sector since January last year, the ONS said.
Health and social work saw the biggest rise in payrolled workers of any sector, adding 39,000 jobs in the year to January.
Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, suggested that those leaving the retail sector were entering healthcare, with both sectors employing large numbers of women. “The crossover is apparent,” she told the BBC.
However, she also warned that a recent surge in investment in artificial intelligence could hit young people the hardest as it could result “in a scarcity of entry level posts”.
Meanwhile, average annual wage growth slowed to 4.2% in the three months to December, from a revised 4.4% in three months to November.
Some economists believe that easing pay growth could make the Bank of England more likely to cut interest rates at its next meeting in March.
The Bank uses interest rates as a tool to cool inflation, the rate at which prices rise, which is currently at 3.4% – above the 2% target set for it by the government.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the fall in wage growth “supports the idea that the Bank of England has at least a couple more interest rate cuts in its locker”.