According to a report released February 11 by Britain’s Office for National Statistics, there has been a fall in both the number of people in employment and the employment rate in the United Kingdom. The number of unemployed people, the unemployment rate and the claimant count have all increased. The number of inactive people of working age and the inactivity rate have fallen. The number of vacancies has fallen. Growth in average earnings, both including and excluding bonuses is unchanged.
In the latest reference period, the working age employment rate was 74.1 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter. The number of people in employment decreased by 45,000 over the quarter. The unemployment rate was 6.3 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter. The number of unemployed people increased by 146,000 over the quarter. The claimant count was 1.23 million, up 73,800 from the previous month. The number of vacancies was 504,000, down 76,000 from the previous quarter.
The earnings annual growth rate (including bonuses) was 3.2 percent, unchanged from the previous period. The earnings annual growth rate (excluding bonuses) was 3.6 percent, unchanged on the previous period.
Employment
The working age employment rate was 74.1 percent in the three months to December 2008, down 0.3 percentage points on the three months to September 2008 and down 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier. The employment level was 29.36 million in the three months to December 2008, down 45,000 from the three months to September 2008 and down 37,000 on a year earlier.
The number of people in full-time employment was 21.83 million in the three months to December 2008, down 78,000 from the three months to September 2008. Of this total, 13.97 million were men, down 60,000 over the quarter, and 7.86 million were women, down 19,000 over the quarter.
The number of people in part-time employment was 7.53 million in the three months to December 2008, up 33,000 from the three months to September 2008. Of this total, 1.86 million were men and 5.67 million were women.
The number of people in public sector employment was 5.76 million in September 2008, up 14,000 from June 2008. The number of people in private sector employment was 23.61 million, down 128,000 from June 2008.
Workforce Jobs
There were 31.53 million workforce jobs in September 2008, down 134,000 over the quarter and down 71,000 on a year earlier. Most sectors showed decreases in jobs over the quarter. The sector showing the largest quarterly fall in jobs was finance and business services, which fell by 72,000.
Production industries employee jobs
There were 2.80 million employee jobs in manufacturing industries in the three months to December 2008, down 101,000 on a year earlier. Over the same period employee jobs in mining, energy and water supply industries increased by 2,000 to reach 180,000.
Hours
Total hours worked per week were 934.0 million in the three months to December 2008, down 6.9 million from the three months to September 2008. Average weekly hours worked in the three months to December 2008 were 31.9, down 0.2 from the three months to September 2008.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in the three months to December 2008, up 0.4 percentage points from the three months to September 2008 and up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
The unemployment level was 1.97 million in the three months to December 2008, up 146,000 from the three months to September 2008 and up 369,000 from a year earlier.
The number of unemployed men was 1.18 million in the three months to December 2008, up 106,000 from the three months to September 2008. The number of unemployed women was 790,000 in the three months to December 2008, up 40,000 from the three months to September 2008.
The number of people unemployed for over 12 months was 453,000 in the three months to December 2008, up 18,000 from the three months to September 2008.
Unemployment for 18- to 24-year-olds was 616,000 in the three months to December 2008, up 38,000 from the three months to September 2008.
Claimant Count
The claimant count in January 2009 was 1.23 million, up 73,800 on the previous month and up 438,100 on a year earlier. The claimant count rate in January 2009 was 3.8 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month and up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
Economically Inactive
The working age economic inactivity rate was 20.8 percent in the three months to December 2008, down 0.1 percentage point on the three months to September 2008 and down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The number of economically inactive people of working age decreased by 29,000 over the quarter and by 48,000 over the year to reach 7.86 million in the three months to December 2008.
Great Britain Average Earnings
In the three months to December 2008, whole economy average earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 3.6 percent on a year earlier. This is unchanged from the three months to November 2008. Including bonuses, the annual growth rate was 3.2 percent, unchanged from the previous period. Corresponding annual growth rates for the main industrial categories were:
Manufacturing
2.2 percent excluding bonuses, down 0.1 percentage point;
2.5 percent including bonuses, down 0.3 percentage points.
Services
3.8 percent excluding bonuses, down 0.1 percentage point;
3.6 percent including bonuses, up 0.2 percentage points.
Public sector
3.9 percent excluding bonuses, down 0.1 percentage point;
4.0 percent including bonuses, unchanged.
Private sector
3.5 percent excluding bonuses, unchanged;
3.1 percent including bonuses, up 0.1 percentage point.
Productivity and Unit Wage Costs
Whole economy productivity was 0.2 percent lower in the third quarter of 2008 compared with a year earlier. Whole economy unit wage costs rose by 3.0 percent over the same period. Manufacturing productivity decreased by 3.8 percent in the three months to December 2008 compared with a year earlier. Manufacturing unit wage costs increased by 6.6 percent over the same period.
Labor disputes
In December 2008, there were 1,000 working days lost due to labor disputes from four stoppages. In the 12 months to December 2008, there were 756,000 working days lost from 128 stoppages.
Vacancies
There were 504,000 job vacancies in the three months to January 2009, down 76,000 from the three months to October 2008 and down 179,000 from a year earlier. There were 1.9 vacancies per 100 employee jobs, down 0.3 on the previous quarter and down 0.7 over the year.
Redundancies
In the three months to December 2008, 259,000 people reported they had become redundant in the three months before their Labor Force Survey interview, up 104,000 from the three months to September 2008 and up 148,000 from a year earlier. The redundancy rate was 10.2 per 1,000
employees, up 4.1 from the three months to September 2008 and up 5.8 from a year earlier.
Read the full report and view all of the data tables by clicking on the link below:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0209.pdf
