Official labour market statistics published by the Office for National Statistics for the past three months show worsening employment levels across the board.
Although total employment went up by 25,000 and temporary employment went up by 20,000, the number of people working part-time who said they could not find a full-time job went up by 83,000, taking the total of ‘involuntary’ part-time workers to nearly 1.3 million.
Unemployment among 18-24 year olds went up by 20,000 and among 24 to 34 year olds by 38,000. However, unemployment fell for 16 and 17 year olds and for those over 34 years old.
Jobs up for men are up by 49,000 but down by 24,000 for women: “a clear signal of the impact of public sector jobs cuts,” according to Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Youth unemployment is up by 15,000, while redundancies are up by 32,000 but vacancies are down by 22,000.
“After a few surprisingly upbeat quarters the UK jobs market has finally caught up with the reality of weaker demand in the private sector and the impact of mounting public sector job cuts,” said Dr Philpott.
Ian Brinkley, centre director at The Work Foundation further added to the generally negative outlook expressed by commentators: “With few signs that the recovery will significantly gather pace over the next six months, the prospects must be for higher unemployment by the end of the year.”
George Archer
