UK Unemployment
Labour Market Statistics
April 16 2008 - The unemployment rate remained at 5.2% - down 0.1% over the quarter and down 0.4% on last year.
29.5 million people were in work in the period December to February according to the labour force survey (LFS). This is
the highest on record, up by 152,000 on the quarter, and up by 456,000 on the last year.
The working age employment rate is 74.9% - up 0.2% on the last quarter
and 0.6% on the last year.
ILO-defined unemployment in December to February was 1.61 million (5.2%) -
down by 39,000 unemployed on the quarter
and down 90,000 from this time last year.
The claimant count for key out-of-work benefits was 794,300 in March -
down by 1,200 on the previous month and down 110,600 on last year.
Earnings growth over the year to February (including bonuses) was 3.7%,
down 0.2% on the previous month.
Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Employment said:
"More people now than ever are in work, while unemployment continues to fall - showing strong performance in spite of the current global economic uncertainties.
"The economy is benefiting from the skill and expertise that people aged over 50 are bringing to the workforce and we are continuing to ensure that our welfare reforms provide greater opportunities for people across all walks of life to get into work if they want to".
The CIPD's Chief Economist John Philpott commented:
"Even allowing for lags between output, jobs and unemployment the UK labour market is still behaving as though the economy were chugging along very nicely rather than on the verge of a significant slowdown. This could bode well for the resilience of employment in the coming months - especially with pay pressures sufficiently subdued not to deter further cuts in interest rates - which would greatly protect the UK economy from the possibility of a period of outright recession.
"If so we could be in for a repeat of what happened during the last economic slowdown in 2005 when employer concerns about talent shortages led to 'labour hoarding.' Employment levels generally held up, with employers cutting hours worked by staff and curbing average pay rises rather than resorting to layoffs. Today's ONS figures showing a substantial reduction in average hours worked by full-time staff would support this possibility as would signs of continued pay restraint.
"It is still too early, however, to breathe a sigh of relief. Much will depend on the severity of the economic slowdown and the impact this has on business and consumer confidence. Indeed the official jobs statistics paint a far rosier picture of the state of the labour market than independent surveys, including those conducted regularly by the CIPD and KPMG. These point to weaker hiring intentions and the prospect of substantial job losses - and are somewhat more in keeping with news emerging daily from the City and those parts of retail sector hardest hit when increasingly cash strapped households cut back on non-essential spending. It is also surprising that the ONS finds continuing big falls in the number of temporary employees when independent surveys suggest that employers cautious about the business outlook are turning to temps rather than hiring staff on permanent contracts.
"One thing likely to concern the Government from the latest labour market statistics is that pay inflation has in recent months picked up in the public sector. Although ministers may have been somewhat misleading in claiming that tighter control of public sector pay was needed to curb price inflation in the economy - rather than to contain public spending and borrowing - the Government will be somewhat embarrassed to find that public sector employers are doing less well than their private sector counterparts at keeping pay rises in check."
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UK Unemployment
