Highlights from the most recent report on Unemployment from the Office of National Statistics 2008
The most recent figures from the Office of National Statistics state that there has been a fall in the number of people in employment and the employment rate. The number of unemployed people has increased by 164,000 over the quarter to reach 1.79 million unemployed and putting the unemployment rate at 5.7%. This is up 0.5% over the previous quarter and 0.4% over the year.
The number of inactive people of working age has increased, but the inactivity rate is unchanged and the number of vacancies has fallen. The number of people in employment for the three months to August 2008 was 29.42 million (down 122,000 over the quarter but up 199,000 over the year. This is the first time that there has been such a large quarterly fall since the early 1990,s.
Unemployment Rate & Working Age Employment rate
Hours worked
There appears to be an increase in average hours worked, particularly by women in full time employment and highlighted by reduced level in employment and total hours worked remaining unchanged.
Redundancy
The redundancy level for the three months to August 2008 was up by 28,000 to 147,000 for the quarter and the year.
Growth of Earnings:
The annual rate of growth in average earnings (excluding bonuses) was 3.6% in the three months to August. This is down 0.1 on the quarter
Job Vacancies:
There were 608,000 job vacancies in the three months to September 2008. This is down 40,000 over the previous quarter and down 62,000 over the year.
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Source: Office for National Statistics
Notes:
People in employment, unemployed and economically inactive make up the total household population aged 16 and over, measured through the Labour Force Survey on a consistent basis since 1971.
Working age is defined as 16-64 for men and 16-59 for women.