UK Unemployment Labor Market Statistics

January 19 2011 - The unemployment rate stands at 7.9% - up 0.2% over the quarter. 29.089 million people were in work in September to November according to the labor force survey (LFS). The number of people employed was 69,000 lower this quarter but up by 184,000 from last year. The working age employment rate is 70.4% - down by 0.3% on the last quarter. ILO-defined unemployment in September to November was 2.50 million (7.9%) - up by 49,000 on the quarter and 73,000 on the same quarter last year. The claimant count for key out-of-work benefits was 1,456,600 in December - down by 4,100 on last month and 144,000 on the last year.. Earnings growth over the year to September to November (including bonuses) was 2.1%. Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said: "These figures serve to underline the scale of the challenge we face. We inherited the largest budget deficit in peacetime history and high levels of worklessness, which we are determined to bring down by rebalancing the economy and supporting private sector jobs growth - we are already seeing some improvement in the number of vacancies in the economy. "More personalized support for jobseekers will be on offer through Job centre Plus and for the long term unemployed who need extra help we are introducing our Work Programme in the summer, which will offer support tailored to individuals needs so that they can get into jobs and stay there."

Commenting on the latest statistics, John Philpot, Chief Economic Adviser at the CIPD, said: "The latest jobs market figures are disappointing albeit that the underlying trend in employment and unemployment toward the end of 2010 suggests a modest rather than drastic deterioration in market conditions. Nonetheless, it is clear that the combination of a jobs market in the doldrums, slow pay growth and sharply rising price inflation was already driving up the UKs misery index well before the impact of this years cut in public spending and the hike in VAT and other taxes start to be felt. "Women account for more than three-quarters of the fall in employment in the latest set of jobs figures, with most of this showing up in a rise in the number of women who are economically inactive rather than unemployed. The number of workless women in the UK - those economically inactive who say they want a job plus those unemployed and actively seeking work - now stands at 2.36 million. This remains below the equivalent figure for men of almost 2.5 million but the gap is set to narrow with cuts in public sector employment likely to fall far more heavily on women than men. A large quarterly fall of 59,000 in the number of women employees in part-time employment is a clear sign that a female jobs recession is already underway."