Unemployment Down In October

The unemployment rate fell to 7.8% in October, a fall of 0.2% on May to July. The employment rate (16-64) was 71.2% up 0.1% on May to July. The number of unemployed was 2.51m, down 82,000 on the three monthly comparison and 128,000 on the year. The inactivity rate was 22.6%, or an economically inactive population of 9.07m (16-64) up 60,000 on the three months previous but down 249,000 on last year. There were 489,000 job vacancies for September to November 2012 or 1.8 vacancies per 100 employee jobs. In terms of duration, 1.16m people had been unemployed for up to 6 months, 442,000 people had been unemployed for between 6 and 12 months and 904,000 had been unemployed for over 1 year and 449,000 people had been unemployed for over 2 years. Total hours worked amounted to 949m for August to October 2012 and average weekly hours worked were 32.1. Earnings or payment for work done before tax and other deductions averaged (incl. bonuses) £471/week total pay and £443/week regular pay. The number of employees reached 25.12m, the self-employed totalled 4.2m, unpaid family workers reached 111,000 and the number of people on government schemes totalled 171,000.

Slight Fall In Unemployment

The unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 7.8% for July to September 2012 according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. The number of the unemployed stands at 2.51m, down 49,000 on April to June an 110,000 on last year. The inactivity rate was 22.6% or 9.07m economically inactive people aged 16-64. The employment rate was 71.2% or 29.58m people, up 513,000 people on last year. Total hours worked per week for July to September were 945.3m, up 10.6m from April to June. Average hours worked were 32. Estimates for total hours can be affected by the arrangement of public holidays. In September 2012, average total pay was £471/week and total rergular pay was £444/week.

Unemployment Down 0.2% To 8%

The unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 8% between April and June 2012 leaving 2.56m people aged over 16 unemployed, down 46,000 on the quarter. The employment rate was 71%, up 0.4%. The number of full-time workers increased by 130,000 to 21.41m and part-time workers increased by 71,000 to 8.07m. The economic inactivity rate for 16-64 year olds was 22.6% the lowest figure since 1991.

Average total pay was £469/week in June 2012. Average regular pay was £442/week. Total hours worked in the economy was 934.7m/week or an average of 31.7 hours/week.

There were 472,000 job vacancies in the three months to July 2012, up 10,000 on the previous three months, or 1.8 job vacancies per 100 employee jobs.

Sharp Fall In Productivity

The latest labour productivity statistics from the ONS show that productivity on an output per hour basis fell by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2012. Market sector productivity fell by 1.6%.

Labour productivity in the services sector fell by 0.4% and it fell by 2.6% in manufacturing, the sharpest fall since Q4 2008. Production sector productivity as a whole fell by 2.7%.

Unit labour costs increased by 1.4% in the first quarter. In manufacturing unit labour costs increased by 2.1%.

The GVA measure of output fell by 0.4% during Q1 2012. During the same period the number of workers and jobs increased by 0.4% and the number of hours worked increased by 0.9% resulting in a sharp fall in output per job over the period.

Unemployment Up To 2.49m

The unemployment rate for October to December 2010 was 7.9% or 2.49m unemployed people. Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) was 762,000 and is at its highest since 1993.

There were 29.12 employed people and an employment rate of 70.5%. Inactivity was at 23.4% or 9.36m inactive people. The public sector employed 6.01 people in September 2010, 33,000 down from June and the number of people employed in the private sector was 23.11m unchanged from June 2010.

Actual hours worked totalled 924.6m in the three months to December, 3% up on the three months to September. Average weekly hours worked in the three months to December totalled 31.8, up 0.2 from three months to September 2010.

Total pay, which includes bonuses, went up by 1.8% on the year earlier and regular pay went up by 2.3% on the year earlier. Private sector average total pay was £447/week in December 2010 and public sector pay average weekly earnings was £467. Average regular pay in the private sector was £419/week and in the public sector £467/week. The claimant count was 1.46m up on the quarter but down on the year.

Productivity was up 1.7% in Q3 2010 compared with Q3 2009 and whole economy wage costs fell by 0.5% over the same period.In December 2010, 7,000 working days were lost because of 14 stoppages in labour disputes and over the year 365,000 days lost from 88 stoppages.

There were 30.7m workforce jobs in September 2010, up on the quarter but down over the year with most jobs increases in accomodation and food services activities and between November 2010 and January 2011 there were 500,000 vacancies (503,000 in same period 2009) and a vacancy ratio of 1.9 per 100 employee jobs. Redundancies totalled 145,000 in the three months to December 2010 unchanged on the previous three months but down 23,000 from a year earlier or 5.8 per 1000 employees.

2.51 Million Unemployed People

Unemployment increased by 53,000 to 2.51 million over the three months to March. The unemployment rate was 8% in March 2010. It is the highest number of unemployed people since December 1994. The number of people unemployed for over 12 months was 757,000 the highest since May 1997. The inactivity rate was up 0.2% to 21.5% with an increase of 88,000 to 8.17 million people of working age economically inactive. The number of vacancies went down 6,000 to 475,000 over the quarter.

Total pay (including bonuses) increased 4% for the three months to March 2010. Regular pay (excluding bonuses) increased by 1.9% from 1.7% in February 2010. Average total pay was £459/week and average regular pay £429/week. Total hours worked per week were 908.4 million with a weekly average of 31.6 in the three months to March 2010.

The public sector employed 6.10 million people and the private sector 22.76 million in December 2009. Average public sector total pay was £467/week and average regular pay was £459/week. Average private sector total pay was £463/week and regular pay £421/week in the three months to March 2010.

A Fall In The Number Of Unemployed And Claimants

The number of unemployed people fell for the first time since May 2008. There were 7,000 fewer people unemployed bringing the number down to 2.46m. The number unemployed for over 12 months grew by 29,000 over the quarter to 631,000, the highest since November 1997. The unemployment rate for September to November was unchanged at 7.8%. The claimant count fell for the second consecutive month to reach 1.61m, the largest monthly fall since April 2007.

There were 448,000 vacancies in the three months to December 2009. That is an increase of 16,000 on the previous three months but 80,000 fewer than a year earlier. There were 30.86m workforce jobs in September 2009. Construction saw the largest decrease in jobs. The inactivity rate was 21.2% for September to November 2009. The number of inactive people rose by 79,000 to 8.05m.

Total hours worked per week in the three months to November were 910.9m. Average weekly hours came to 31.5, up 0.2 from August 2009. Productivity was 3.1% lower in Q3 2009 than Q3 2008 and unit wage costs rose by 4.1% over the same period. Manufacturing unit wage costs increased by 1.8%.

Average regular pay rose by 1.1% on the previous year, but decreased 0.1 on the previous quarter. Average total pay in November was £451/week, an increase of 0.7%. Private sector average regular pay in November was £414/week and average total pay was £447/week. Public sector average regular pay £455/week, average total pay was £459/week.

In November 14 labour disputes cost the economy 36,000 working days. Over the year to November 90 stoppages meant 436,000 lost working days. The number of redundancies decreased by 31,000 to 182,000 in the three months to November on the previous quarter and 46,000 on the previous year.

Labour Market Statistics For August 2009

The unemployment rate for the three months to August 2009 was 7.9%, up 0.3% on the previous quarter and 2.1% on the year. There were 2.47 million people unemployed, up 88,000 on the previous quarter and 677,000 on the year. The employment rate was 72.6% for the UK and the total number of people in employment was 28.95 million, down 0.3% on the previous quarter and 1.8% on the year. A total of 904.5 hours was worked in the quarter, down 14.3 million.

There were 434,000 job vacancies in the quarter a decrease of 163,000 on last year. The inactivity rate for people of working age was 21% or 7.97 million up 50,000 on the quarter and 80,000 on the year. In the three months to August 2009 there were 233,000 redundancies which is down 68,000 on the quarter but up 85,000 on the year. A total of 8 stoppages lost 36,000 working days in August.

The number of people working in manufacturing in the three months to August 2009 was 2.63 million, the lowest figure since 1978. Manufacturing productivity decreased by 2.2% and unit wage costs increased by 3.5% compared with the same period last year. Average earnings increased by 1.9%.

Productivity Comparisons For 2008

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2008 UK GDP/worker was above Japan, similar to Canada and Germany, below that of France, Italy and the US and lower than the average of the G7 excluding the UK. On the basis of GDP/hour worked the UK is above Japan, similar to Canada and Italy but below France, Germany and the US.

The UK experienced faster productivity growth than all other G7 countries since 1991 by the GDP/worker measure. UK GDP/worker had grown by 39% since 1991 compared to the G7 average of 29%. UK GDP/hour worked increased by 49% between 1991 and 2007, the fastest growth of any G7 country for that period. The G7 average excluding the UK was 36%. GDP data for each country are coverted using purchasing power parities to make them comparable.