Fall In Unemployment Of 0.2%

The unemployment rate for July to September was 7.6% down 0.2% from April to June 2013 according to figures from the ONS. There were 2.47m people unemployed down 48,000 from April to June and from a year earlier. There were 378,000 more people in employment and 149,000 fewer economically inactive people.

In terms of public and private employment, there were 5.67m people employed in the public sector (19%) and 24.17m people employed in the private sector (81%). There were 1.55m people employed in the NHS, 1.08m people employed in public administration, 1.48m people employed in education and 433,000 people employed in HM Forces.

There were 32.49 workforce jobs (filled jobs) in the economy in June 2013. There were 545,000 job vacancies for August to October 2013. There were 2 vacancies for every 100 employee jobs for August to October 2013.

Total pay averaged £475/week and regular pay was £447/week in September 2013 and between July and September 2013 total pay rose by 0.7% and regular pay by 0.8%.

By duration of unemployment 1.15m people have been unemployed for up to six months and 458,000 have been unemployed for over 2 years up 16,000 over the year.

Inflation Rate 2.2% Down From 2.7%

The recent ONS statistical release on consumer inflation suggests that the CPI grew by 2.2% in the year to October 2013 down from 2.7% in September, but still above the Government's target of 2%. The main contributions to the fall in the rate came from transport and education. The CPIH and RPIJ likewise moved in a similar direction with rates of 2% from 2.5% and 1.9% from 2.5% respectively.

European Inflation Falls In October

Inflation in Europe fell in October according to Eurostat. Euro area inflation fell 0.1% from 2.6% in September to 2.5% in October. EU annual inflation was 2.6% in October down from 2.7% in September. The annual comparison also shows a decrease in inflation in the euro area from 3% and in the EU27 from 3.4% last year. The lowest annual rates in October were seen in Greece, Sweden and Latvia and the highest in Hungary, Romania and Estonia. The lowest annual averages were in Sweden, Greece and Ireland and the highest in Hungary, Estonia and Poland. In the euro area the main components for annual rates were transport, alcohol and tobacco and housing and the lowest in communiactions, recreation and culture, clothing and household equipment. The monthly rate were mainly affected by clothing and education, alcohol and tobacco and the lowest for transport, communications, recreation and culture and hotels and restaurants.

Service Sector The Biggest Employer In Europe

The latest Labour Force Survey from Eurostat says that almost 70% of employed persons in the EU27 were employed in the service sector in 2011. The latest figure compares with 62% in 2000. Market services accounted for 39%, non-market services 30%, industry and construction 25% and agriculture 5%. Market services includes trade and transportation, financial services, administration and support services, professional and scientific services, accomodation and food services and non-market services include public administration, arts, entertainment and recreation, education and health.

Europe 2020 Strategy Indicators

The European Council's Europe 2020 Strategy objectives as expressed in the 5 targets of employment, research and development, climate change and energy, education and poverty and social exclusion monitored on the basis of Eurostat headline indicators are the subject of a statistical bulletin from Eurostat.

Employment is the first key objective of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The target set for 2020 is 75% of those aged 20-64 in EU27. The employment rate increased from 66.6% in 2000 to 70.3% in 2008 but follwing the economic crisis it fell again to 68.6% in 2011.

Research and development expenditure has grown from 1.86% of GDP in 2000 to 2% in 2010. The target for 2020 is 3% of GDP.

The headline indicators for climate change and energy have three elements: greenhouse gas reduction, increase in the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption and an increase in energy efficiency. The greenhouse gas target for 2020 is a 20% reduction on 1990 levels. A steady decrease has resulted in a decline of 15% by 2010 on 1990. The target for renewable energy is a 20% share of gross final energy consumption. It has grown steadily from 8.1% in 2004 to 12.5% in 2010. The target for energy efficiency for 2020 for the EU27 is primary energy consumption of 1474m tonnes of oil equivalent (mTOE). The level has fluctuated but increased from 1560mTOE to 1650mTOE in 2010.

The objectives for education for 2020 are a decrease in the number of early school leavers and an increase in the number of people completing tertiary education. The target for 2020 is to reduce the share of the population aged 18-24 with at most lower secondary education and not currently in tertiary education or training to below 10% and to increase the share of those aged 30-34 in the EU27 having completed tertiary education to 40% or more. The share of early school leavers has decreased continuously from 17.6% in 2000 to 13.5% in 2011. The share of those having completed tertiary education has also increased steadily from 22.4% in 2000 to 34.6% in 2011.

The fifth key objective is a reduction of poverty and social exclusion, including monetary poverty, material deprivation and lack of access to the labour market. The 2020 target is to reduce the number of people affected by at least one of the three dimensions of poverty by 20m. The number has decreased from 123.9m in 2005 to 113.8m in 2009 but increased again to 115.7m in 2010.

Unemployment Down By 0.2%

The unemployment rate went down by 0.2%, or 51,000 to 2.61m unemployed people in the three months to April. There were 29.28m people aged 16 and over in employment, up 166,000 on the quarter. Full-time workers numbered 21.32m and part-time workers 7.97m. The private sector accounted for 23.38m, up 205,000 and the public sector for 5.9m, down 39,000.

There were 1.01m unemployed young people (16-24 year olds) down by 29,000 and 3.62m young 16-24 year olds in employment. The unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds was down 0.6% to 21.9% in the three months to April. The unemployment rate is increased as increasing numbers of unemployed young people go into full-time education and are classed as economically inactive. If people in full-time education are excluded there were 709,000 unemployed 16-24 year olds in the three months to April.

The economic inactivity rate was 23%, down 0.2%. The economically inactive went down by 69,000 on the quarter and 139,000 over the year to 9.23m. The figure includes a fall of 62,000 to 2.25m people who were students. The claimant count in May 2012 was 1.6m, a rate of 4.9%.

Total pay in the public sector rose by 1.4% on the previous year to £479/week and regular pay by 0.8% to £467. Total pay in the private sector rose by 1.3% to £465/week in April 2012 and average regular pay rose by 2.1% to £431/week.

There were 31.89m workforce jobs in March 2012, up 357,000 over the quarter and 544,000 over the year. There were 465,000 job vacancies in the three months to May 2012. The number of redundancies on the quarter fell 0.7% to 6.2% but was up on the year by 1.6%.

Qualifications And Earnings Link Still There

People with the highest qualifications are still earning more according to data from the Labour Force Survey carried out by the ONS. The pay gap is lower comparing those educated to GCSE or equivalent with those educated to a higher level in 2010 than in 1993. Employees with a minimum of a degree earned 85% more (95% in 1993), with higher education qualifications (not a degree) earned 45% more (54% in 1993) and those with 'A' level or equivalent 15% more (18% in 1993). The pay gap with those with no formal educational qualifications remained fairly stable at about 20% less than those with GCSEs. The increase in the number of people with degrees has had an impact on the kinds of jobs the group performs and means that they are now more likely to work in lower skilled jobs.

The survey covers people aged between 22-64 as most people have finished their formal education by this time. People with GCSEs increased from 17% to 20% between 1993 and 2010. The percentage of people with a degree increased from 12% in 1993 to 25% in 2010, more than double. The number of people with no formal qualification has fallen from 25% in 1993 to 11% in 2010.

Accessibility Of Key Services

The Department for Transport has released statistics covering the core accessibility indicators for 2009. The measures show the accessibility of 8 key services to the population that uses them. The 8 key indicators are food stores, primary and secondary schools, further education, GPs and hospitals, town centres and employment centres. They give estimations of the proportion of the population that can access them within reasonable time limits by public transport/walking, cycle and car. The indicators take three forms: destination, travel time and origin.

The key findings are given at national and regional level. At the national level, on destination indicators which look at the proportion of the local population with access to the services, the highest proportion of the population able to access key services by public transport/walking in a reasonable time was 83% for employment centres and the lowest was for hospitals at 34%. Cars give highest level of overall access to all services at 76% and cycle the lowest at 50%, public transport/walking gave 57% but also gave the widest variation from 34% for hospitals to 83% for employment centres.

There are variations in accessibility to services in urban and rural areas. The greatest variations were for hospitals and town centres with a 16% difference between urban and rural areas. The least was for primary schools with only a 3% difference. In urban areas 60% of the population could easily access the 8 key services by public transport or walking but in rural areas it was only 48%.

In terms of travel time indicators the average time to travel to all key services was 5 minutes by car, 15 minutes by public transport/walking and 17 minutes by cycle. The average minimum time to travel to the nearest service by public transport/walking was lowest for primary schools and food stores at 9 minutes and highest for hospitals at an average of 30 minutes. By cycling the average time was lowest for primary schools at 5 minutes and highest for hospitals at 52 minutes. By car the average minumum time for all services was 5 minutes.

The survey also loooked at the choice of key services available to local populations. These are called the origin indicators. Thirty per cent of local communities (LSOA level) had access to more than one hospital by public transport or walking and 25% had access to more than one town centre. Over 90% had access by public transport or walking to employment centres of over 5,000 jobs within reasonable time.

At the regional level, there was little difference in access to services between Government Office regions with the exception of London. Overall access to the 8 key services by all modes was greatest in London with 64% for public transport/walking, 59% cycling and 77% by car and the East of England was lowest by public transport/walking with 54% and by cycling with 46%. Access by car was similar in all regions at 75-78%. The lowest average minimum travel time by public transport/walking was in London at 10 minutes and highest in the South West at 21 minutes and 15 minutes nationally. Cycling lowest travel time was in London at 6 minutes and highest in the East of England at 26 minutes and 17 minutes nationally. By car the average minumum travel time was 6-7 minutes in all regions. The greatest level of choice of services was in London the lowest in the South West, East of England and the East Midlands.

EU Inflation Unchanged At 2%

EU annual inflation was unchanged at 2% in May 2010. The previous year it was 0.8%. Monthly inflation in May was 0.2%. Annual inflation in the euro area was 1.6% in May. This time last year it was 0.0%. Monthly inflation was 0.1% in May 2010.

The lowest annual inflation rates in the EU in May were in Latvia (-2.4%) and Ireland (-1.9%). The highest rates of inflation were in Greece (5.3%), Hungary (4.9%) and Romania (3.6%). Inflation fell in 10 member states and rose in 12. It was stable in the other 5. Over the year the picture is much the same with the highest rates in Ireland (-2.5%), Latvia (-1.2%) and Portugal (-0.5%) and the lowest in Hungary (5.1%), Romania (4.7%) and Poland (3.6%).

The main contributions to the changes came from recreation and culture and alcohol and tobacco (0.4%) with the highest monthly rates and food and communications (both -0.2%) and education (0.0%) the lowest.

Services Output Index Contracts By 0.1%

The services sector output index for the quarter to September 2009 decreased by 0.1% compared with the previous quarter. There were decreases in three of the five components that make up the index, business services and finance, hotels and restaurants and Government and other services. Distribution showed the most significant increase over transport and communication.

The increase in distribution was 1.1%, while transport increased by 0.5%. The Government sector reported the a decrease of 0.2%, most significantly in education and recreation, then came business services at 0.3% and hotels and restaurants a 2.7% decrease. The indicator for the output of the services sector for the month between August and September showed an increase of 0.4%.

Inflation Up In October

Both the all items CPI and the all items RPI were up in October. The annual rate for the CPI was 1.5% from 1.1% and for the RPI -0.8% from -0.1.4% last month. The annual rate for the RPIX was also up from 1.9% from 1.3% last month.

Looking at goods and services separately, the CPI for goods was 108.4 up from 108.3 giving an annual rate of 0.8% from 0.0% last month. The RPI all goods index was unchanged at 168.1. The all services index under the CPI was 115.7 from 115.4 at a rate of 2.3% down from 2.5% last month and for the RPI it was 285.1 from 283.8 and the rate is unchanged at 2.1%. The Tax and Price Index (TPI) for October was 192.9 from 192.2, or a rate of -1.6% up from -2.3% in September.

Transport contributed a large upward effect on the CPI due to falling prices in fuels and lubricants. Other noteworthy effects came from recreation and culture with price rises from the recording media in particular DVDs, games, toys and hobbies, food and non-alcoholic beverages and communications due to increases in landline telephone charges. A small upward effect came from furniture and household goods. Downward effects came mainly from miscellaneous goods and services in particular banking services, and education due to the effect of the increase in university fees. Housing and household services made a small contribution. These variations were reflected in the RPI with motoring expenditure the largest upward effect due to petrol and oil prices, housing in particular housing depeciation, food principally non-seasonal food, fares and other travel, household goods and services (furniture, telephones) , personal goods and services and leisure goods also made an impression.