| Unemployment falls in flat job market |
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| Wednesday, 12 December 2007 | |
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Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the trends in the employment and inactivity rates are broadly flat but the trend in the unemployment rate is falling.
There has been a further fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit. The number of job vacancies has increased. Growth in average earnings, both excluding and including bonuses, has fallen. The employment rate for people of working age was 74.5 per cent for the three months to October 2007, up 0.1 from the previous quarter but unchanged over the year. The number of people in employment for the three months to October 2007 was 29.29 million, up 114,000 over the quarter and up 226,000 over the year. Unemployment rate down Total hours worked per week were 940.0 million, up 5.1 million over the quarter and up 11.7 million over the year. These figures for people in employment and hours worked are the highest since comparable records began in 1971. There were 31.60 million jobs in September 2007, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1959. It is up 63,000 over the quarter and up 287,000 on a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 5.3 per cent, down 0.1 over the previous quarter and down 0.2 over the year. The number of unemployed people decreased by 15,000 over the quarter and by 59,000 over the year, to reach 1.64 million. The claimant count was 813,000 in November 2007, down 11,100 over the previous month and down 134,200 over the year. This is the lowest figure since June 1975. The claimant count has now fallen for 14 consecutive months. The inactivity rate for people of working age was 21.2 per cent for the three months to October 2007, down 0.1 over the previous quarter but up 0.2 over the year. The number of economically inactive people of working age decreased by 16,000 over the quarter but increased by 111,000 over the year to reach 7.96 million. Public sector employment Public sector employment decreased by 15,000 (seasonally adjusted) in the third quarter of 2007 to 5.770 million. In central government employment decreased by 10,000 in the third quarter 2007 and in local government it decreased by 3,000. Employment by public corporations fell by 2,000. The number of employees in the Civil Service decreased by 6,000. The largest decrease in the third quarter was in other public sector (14,000). The largest increase was in the NHS (4,000). Private sector employment Employment in the private sector increased by 128,000 in the third quarter. Compared with the same quarter the previous year, there was a decrease of 37,000 in public sector employment. The annual rate of growth in average earnings (the AEI) excluding bonuses was 3.6 per cent in October 2007, down 0.1 from the previous month. Including bonuses it was 4.0 per cent, also down 0.1 from the previous month. There were 680,700 job vacancies for the three months to November 2007. This is the highest figure since comparable records began in 2001 and is up 14,500 over the previous quarter and up 81,100 over the year. The redundancy rate for the three months to October 2007 was 5.3 per 1,000 employees, up 0.4 over the quarter but down 0.3 over the year. Average earnings Average earnings including bonuses, rose by 4.0 per cent in the year to October 2007, down from 4.1 per cent in September. The decrease in the including bonuses rate is due to weaker growth in manufacturing, only partially offset by stronger growth in the public sector. Average earnings excluding bonuses, or regular pay, rose by 3.6 per cent in the year to October 2007, down from 3.7 per cent in September. The decrease in the excluding bonus rate is due to weaker growth in manufacturing and private sector services, only partially offset by stronger growth in the public sector. In the year to October pay growth (including bonuses) in the private sector was 4.2 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent for the public sector. Excluding bonus payments, private sector growth also stood at 3.7 per cent compared with 3.4 per cent for the public sector. In the year to October 2007 consumer prices increased by 2.1 per cent, which is below the rate of earnings growth. Related articles
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As the economy hits the most significant downward cycle in 50 years, finance directors must take stock of their companies' remuneration and compensation packages.