12 May 2004 - More people in work than ever before - Kennedy
Minister of State for Work Jane Kennedy today welcomed figures showing strong employment growth, high levels of vacancies and the lowest unemployment for nearly thirty years.
She said: “There are now more people in work in the UK than ever before, up three hundred thousand in the last year alone and 1.9 million higher than seven years ago.”
The latest labour market statistics show the growth in employment continues apace. In January to March 2004 there were 195 thousand more people in work than in the previous three months and 297 thousand more than a year ago.
There are now 28.35 million people in work in the UK, the highest figure ever recorded. The employment rate is 74.9 per cent, up from 74.6 per cent a year ago.
“Unemployment is the lowest for nearly thirty years and is continuing to fall. There has been a sharp improvement in long-term unemployment, down three quarters in the last seven years,” Jane Kennedy continued.
The internationally recognised ILO measure of unemployment is down by 48 thousand this quarter and by 91 thousand over the last year, to 1.41 million. The number of unemployed claimants is 876,300, down 6,000 in April and down 63,600 compared to this time last year. These figures are the lowest since 1975.
“Full employment is now within reach. This has been made possible through economic success, with consistently low inflation and interest rates, combined with a wider range of active help and support for those without work than has ever been available before,” Jane Kennedy said.
“Jobcentre Plus and the New Deal have helped to reduce unemployment and are beginning to make a difference to the number of people claiming other benefits.”
Background to labour market statistics: May 2004
Employment is growing strongly, unemployment is falling and vacancies are high.
This month’s Labour Force Survey covers January to March 2004. The claimant unemployment count date was 8th April and the vacancy count date was 2nd April.
In January to March 2004, employment rose by 195 thousand on the previous quarter and 297 thousand on the year. ILO unemployment was down in the latest quarter and on the year. Claimant unemployment was down in the latest month and on the year.
The labour market is in a historically strong position
- There were 28.35 million people in work in January to March, a new record high.
- The LFS employment rate is 74.9%, up 0.3 percentage points over the year. This is one of the highest rates on record.
- The latest claimant unemployment figures are the lowest since August 1975. A recently released series of longer-run Labour Force Survey data indicates that ILO unemployment is also at its lowest since 1975.
- Both the ONS and Jobcentre Plus series show a rise in vacancies over the last year.
- Over the last year the redundancy rate per thousand employees shows a fall of 1.8 to 5.7 per thousand employees. This is one of the lowest figures on record.
Employment is growing and unemployment is falling
- There has been strong growth in employment: up by 195 thousand in the last three months and 297 thousand over the last year.
- The unemployment fall this quarter was smaller than the rise in employment because many new jobs have been taken by people joining the labour force from inactivity.
- ILO unemployment in January to March was 1.41 million, down 48 thousand in the last three months and 91 thousand on this time last year. The ILO unemployment rate has fallen from 4.9% to 4.7% this quarter and is 0.3 percentage points lower than a year ago.
- The latest claimant count figures show 876.3 thousand claimants in April 2004, a fall of 6 thousand on the month. The claimant unemployment rate, at 2.9%, is down 0.2 percentage points over the last year.
- The proportion of the population who are economically inactive – those who do not have a job but are not actively seeking or available for work – is 21.3%, unchanged over the last year but down 0.2 percentage points this quarter.
The number of vacancies is increasing
- ONS’s vacancy survey estimates there were 618.2 thousand unfilled vacancies in the quarter to April 2004, up 43 thousand (7.5%) on the same period last year.
- Information on the new vacancies reported to Jobcentres each month is available on Nomis. Jobcentre vacancies in April 2004 were 291,797 compared to 240,313 in the same month in 2003. This increase may partly reflect the success of Jobcentre Plus in attracting vacancies from employers.
- More than 10,000 new vacancies are placed at Jobcentres every working day. Evidence suggests up to twice this number come up through other recruitment channels.
Earnings growth in the year to March was 5.2%, up 0.3 points from February
- Excluding the effect of bonuses, average earnings growth was 3.9%, up 0.1 points from February.
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