14 July 2004 - UK has a world class labour market - Kennedy
Minister for Work, Jane Kennedy, today welcomed figures showing the number of people in work on a rising trend, with unemployment falling and vacancies at very high levels. This follows the latest survey by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which confirms the UK’s position at the top of the international employment league.
There were 28.3 million people in work in the UK in March to May 2004 and the employment rate was 74.7%. The underlying trend in employment is rising, though as the latest figures show there are some fluctuations from quarter to quarter. In the last year as a whole employment has risen by 206 thousand.
Jane Kennedy said:
“The number of people in work in the UK is rising, up two hundred thousand in the last twelve months alone. With nearly 75 per cent of the working age population in work we have the best employment record of the major world economies.”
“Because of our success in helping people into work, unemployment is the lowest for nearly thirty years and continues to fall. We have the second lowest unemployment of the major economies, after Japan,” Jane Kennedy continued.
The internationally recognised ILO measure of unemployment was up 6 thousand this quarter but down 52 thousand over the last year, to 1.43 million. The underlying trend remains downwards. The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance is 850,900, down 9,600 this month and 97,500 over the year. At 2.7 per cent, the claimant unemployment rate is the lowest since April 1975.
“The UK’s success has been built around a strong economy and a flexible labour market, which has delivered one of the lowest levels of temporary work in the industrialised world.”
“In addition, we have put in place a wider range of help for people without work than ever before. We are world leaders in policies to raise the proportion of the population who are in work, tackling not just unemployment but increasingly the larger number of people classified as inactive,” Jane Kennedy said.
Notes for editors
Background to Labour Market Statistics: July 2004
Employment is on a rising trend and unemployment is falling. Vacancies are high and rising and redundancies are low and falling. This month’s Labour Force Survey covers March to May 2004. The claimant unemployment count date was 10th June and the vacancy count date was 4th June.
In March to May 2004, employment fell by 29 thousand on the previous quarter but rose by 206 thousand on the year. ILO unemployment was up slightly in the latest quarter but was down on the year. Claimant unemployment was down in the latest month and on the year.
The labour market is in a strong position
- There were 28.301 million people in work in March to May.
- The LFS employment rate is 74.7%, unchanged on the year.
- On both measures, recent unemployment rates are the best since 1975.
- Both the ONS and Jobcentre Plus series show a rise in vacancies over the last year.
- Over the last year the redundancy rate per thousand employees shows a fall of 0.5 to 5.9 per thousand employees. This is one of the lowest figures on record.
The trend in employment is up and the trend in unemployment is down
- There has been slight decline in employment: down by 29 thousand in the last three months but up by 206 thousand over the last year. The underlying trend remains upwards.
- The level of ILO unemployment in March to May was 1.43 million, up 6 thousand in the last three months but down 52 thousand on this time last year. The ILO unemployment rate remains unchanged from the previous quarter at 4.8% but is 0.2 percentage points lower than a year ago.
- The latest claimant count figures show 850.9 thousand claimants in June 2004, a fall of nearly 10 thousand on the month. The level of claimant unemployment has fallen by an average of 10.5 thousand a month over the last three months. The claimant unemployment rate, at 2.7%, is down 0.3 percentage points over the last year.
- The proportion of the population who are economically inactive – those who do not have a job but are not actively seeking or available for work – is 21.4%, up 0.1 percentage points over the last year.
The number of vacancies remains high
- ONS’s vacancy survey estimates there were 643.4 thousand unfilled vacancies in the quarter to June 2004, up 60.5 thousand (10.4%) on the same period last year.
- Information on the new vacancies reported to Jobcentres each month is available on Nomis. Jobcentre vacancies in May 2004 were 275,742 compared with 237,794 in the same month in 2003. This increase may partly reflect the success of Jobcentre Plus in attracting new vacancies from employers.
- More than 10,000 new vacancies are placed at Jobcentres every working day. Evidence suggests at least as many again come up through other recruitment channels.
Earnings growth in the year to May was 4.3%, unchanged from April.
- Excluding the effect of bonuses, average earnings growth was 4.2%, up 0.1 points from April
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