March Labour Statistics
Vacancies rise, unemployment decreases but employment rate falls to 1996 levels.
The latest labour market statistics from ONS reveal the complex nature of the current UK employment market:
The employment rate for the quarter to January 2010 was 72.2%. This is down 0.3% on the quarter and the lowest since the winter of 1996. The number of people in employment fell by 54,000 on the quarter to reach 28.86 billion.
However, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1% on the quarter to reach 7.8% for the three months to January 2010. This was the first quarterly fall in the unemployment rate since the three months to May 2008.
Furthermore the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (the claimant count) decreased by 32,300 between January and February 2010 to reach 1.59 million. This is the largest monthly fall in the claimant count since November 1997.
Our labour market statistics report encompasses the movement of employment, unemployment, claimant counts, economic activity, vacancies and labour disputes. This report is published the third Thursday in each month, if you would like any historic reports please email research@depoel.co.uk
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