Employment On The Rise

The employment rate stands at 71.5%, 0.3% up on the last three months from November 2012 to January 2013. It means there were 29.73m people in employment. The number of employed people has risen for the last 5 quarterly periods. The unemployment rate was 7.8%, unchanged, with 2.52m people unemployed. The inactivity rate was 22.3% or 8.95m people economically inactive.

Total pay increased by 1.2% up but CPI 2.7%. Average total pay was £470/week and average regular pay was £442/week. The number of self-employed people fell by 21,000 to 4.18m. Unpaid family workers numbers fell by 8,000 to 103,000.

Looking at the labour market statistics regionally, the highest rate of employment was found in the South East and the East of England with 74.9%. The lowest rate was found in the North East with 67.2%. The unemployment rate was highest in the North East at 9.8% and lowest in the South West with 5.8%. Inactivity rates were also highest in the North East at 25.4% and lowest in the South East and the East of England with 19.6%. The claimant count was highest in the North East at 7.6% and lowest in the South East at 3%.