London Olympics link as unemployment falls again
18 July 2012
Unemployment has declined for a fourth successive month to its lowest level since last summer, to 2.58m people in the three months to May, with indications that employment has been given a boost by the London Olympics.
Wed, 18 Jul 2012
Unemployment declined for a fourth successive month to its lowest level since last summer, to 2.58m people in the three months to May, with indications that employment has been given a boost by the London Olympics.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in the period down from 8.3% in the previous quarter, according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), which says there is “some limited evidence” of an Olympics effect in the figures, since 50,000 of the 65,000 drop in unemployment occurred in London.The number of full-time workers increased by 133,000 to reach 21.4m and the number of part-time workers increased by 48,000 to reach 7.99m.
The drop in unemployment occurred despite the UK officially being in recession, as well as the continuing turmoil in the Eurozone.
The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), however, rose by 6,100.
Commenting on the figures, minister for employment Chris Grayling says: “This is an encouraging set of figures in what is still an incredibly difficult economic climate. Not only is unemployment falling but in overall terms there are now almost 100,000 less people on benefits since the 2010 election. We still have a long way to go but this is a step in the right direction.”
Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) director of policy and professional services Tom Hadley says: “Today’s figures are good news and are further evidence that it is possible for the private sector to compensate for public sector job losses. However, we still need to be cautious. Tens of thousands of university, school and college leavers will be entering the job market over the summer and our latest data from recruiters shows hiring activity is slowing.”
Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills, says: “Despite the challenging economic times, the British labour market is showing some resilience, with jobs being created and fewer people unemployed. The persistent rise in the number of people claiming JSA remains troubling, however.
“The rising number of JSA claimants, and the fact that we have 441,000 people who’ve been unemployed for over two years, emphasises how important the government’s Work Programme is.”
Tom Lovell, group managing director of recruitment consultancy Reed, says the figures support those from Reed’s Job Index, which showed that that the number of permanent jobs taken was up 7% month-on-month, with education (+26%) purchasing (+18%) and retail (+18%) doing particularly well.
John Salt, director of the jobs site totaljobs.com adds: “While the picture has been improving of late, my concern is that the latest cohort of graduates are going to be entering the labour market, if they haven’t already, followed soon by school leavers. Today’s figures, whilst welcome, do not point to the significant rise in vacancies that we’d need to off-set this increase in the number of jobseekers.”
Unemployment declined for a fourth successive month to its lowest level since last summer, to 2.58m people in the three months to May, with indications that employment has been given a boost by the London Olympics.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in the period down from 8.3% in the previous quarter, according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), which says there is “some limited evidence” of an Olympics effect in the figures, since 50,000 of the 65,000 drop in unemployment occurred in London.The number of full-time workers increased by 133,000 to reach 21.4m and the number of part-time workers increased by 48,000 to reach 7.99m.
The drop in unemployment occurred despite the UK officially being in recession, as well as the continuing turmoil in the Eurozone.
The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), however, rose by 6,100.
Commenting on the figures, minister for employment Chris Grayling says: “This is an encouraging set of figures in what is still an incredibly difficult economic climate. Not only is unemployment falling but in overall terms there are now almost 100,000 less people on benefits since the 2010 election. We still have a long way to go but this is a step in the right direction.”
Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) director of policy and professional services Tom Hadley says: “Today’s figures are good news and are further evidence that it is possible for the private sector to compensate for public sector job losses. However, we still need to be cautious. Tens of thousands of university, school and college leavers will be entering the job market over the summer and our latest data from recruiters shows hiring activity is slowing.”
Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment and skills, says: “Despite the challenging economic times, the British labour market is showing some resilience, with jobs being created and fewer people unemployed. The persistent rise in the number of people claiming JSA remains troubling, however.
“The rising number of JSA claimants, and the fact that we have 441,000 people who’ve been unemployed for over two years, emphasises how important the government’s Work Programme is.”
Tom Lovell, group managing director of recruitment consultancy Reed, says the figures support those from Reed’s Job Index, which showed that that the number of permanent jobs taken was up 7% month-on-month, with education (+26%) purchasing (+18%) and retail (+18%) doing particularly well.
John Salt, director of the jobs site totaljobs.com adds: “While the picture has been improving of late, my concern is that the latest cohort of graduates are going to be entering the labour market, if they haven’t already, followed soon by school leavers. Today’s figures, whilst welcome, do not point to the significant rise in vacancies that we’d need to off-set this increase in the number of jobseekers.”
