12 September 2007 – Flint: record numbers in work mark another step towards full employment
New figures which show record numbers of people in employment are welcomed by Employment Minister, Caroline Flint, today. The Labour Market figures show employment is up, unemployment is down and numbers on the claimant count have fallen.
Caroline Flint said:
"Once again we have a strong set of labour market figures with record numbers in work. We have made real improvements since 1997 – reducing the number of people claiming unemployment benefit by almost half and seeing numbers on all main out of work benefits fall in total by around a million.
“But, we are determined to reach full employment, something which would have been unimaginable 10 years ago. On Monday, the Prime Minister announced measures to fast track more lone parents into jobs that are vacant, and confirmed plans to help 250,000 people into jobs through the Local Employment Partnerships. These measures will help those that are hardest to reach make the move off benefits and into work.”
Background to labour market statistics: September 2007
Employment is up 132 thousand on the year, and up 84 thousand on the quarter. ILO unemployment is down 28 thousand on the quarter and down 53 thousand on the year. Economic inactivity is up 156 thousand on the year and down 1 thousand on the quarter.
The number claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell 4.2 thousand in August to 852.9 thousand. It is down 100 thousand over the year. Separate figures published by DWP in August show that in the year to February 2007 the number on incapacity benefits fell by 43 thousand to 2.66 million and the number on lone parent benefits fell by 6 thousand to 771 thousand.
This month’s Labour Force Survey covers May to July 2007. The claimant unemployment and vacancy count dates were 9th June and 3rd June respectively.
The labour market is in a strong position
- 29.1 million people were in work in May to July, the highest figure on record.
- The employment rate is 74.4%, up on the quarter (0.1 points) but down on the year (0.2 points).
- The working age inactivity rate is 21.2%, near its lowest since 1992.
- The ILO unemployment rate is 5.4%, down 0.2 percentage points on the year.
- Vacancies remain very high at 663 thousand and redundancies are very low.
Employment is up on the quarter and on the year
- Employment rose by 84 thousand on the quarter, and by 132 thousand on the year.
- ILO unemployment fell 28 thousand on the quarter and 53 thousand on a year ago.
- The unemployment rate is 5.4%, down 0.1 point on the quarter. ONS’s assessment is that trend may be starting to fall. It remains at levels not seen since the 1970s.
- Economic inactivity fell in the last quarter by 1 thousand, and is up 156 thousand on the year. The inactivity rate is unchanged on the quarter and up on the year (0.3 percentage points).
New figures show sustained falls in the numbers on out-of-work benefits
- There were 852.9 thousand people on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in August 2007, down 4.2 thousand on the previous month, and down 100.4 thousand on a year ago.
- Separate figures published by DWP in August show that the number of people claiming incapacity benefits fell 43 thousand in the year to February 2007, to 2.66 million; while the number on lone parent benefits fell 6 thousand to 771 thousand.
Vacancies remain very high and redundancies are very low
- Vacancies remain very high. ONS’s vacancy survey estimates 662.7 thousand unfilled vacancies in the three months to August 2007, up 20.3 thousand on the previous quarter and 64.6 thousand over the year.
- More than 10,000 new vacancies are placed at Jobcentres every working day and at least as many again come up through other recruitment channels.
- Redundancies are at record lows. There were 121 thousand redundancies this quarter, down 8 thousand on the previous quarter.
Earnings growth in the year to July was 3.5%, up 0.1% points from June
- Excluding bonuses average earnings growth was 3.5%, up 0.1 percentage point from the June rate.
- Between May 1997 and February 2007, the number of people on the main out-of-work benefits fell by 989,500. Taking account of more up-to-date claimant count information the fall is 1,056,600, though this will need to be confirmed once data on the other benefit groups becomes available for the more recent period.
Main out-of-work benefits May 1997- Latest levels, in thousands [Footnote: 1]
| Date | JSA (claimant count) [Footnote: 2] |
Incapacity benefits [Footnote: 3] |
Lone Parents on Income Support (IS) [Footnote: 3] |
Other (IS others and Pension Credit) [Footnote: 4] [Footnote: 5] |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May-97 | 1,619.6 | 2,616.3 | 1,014.2 | 256.2 | |
| Feb-97 | 1,752.8 | 2,600.5 | 1,020.6 | 265.5 | |
| Feb-98 | 1,380.7 | 2,639.7 | 972.7 | 239.2 | |
| Feb-99 | 1,304.5 | 2,641.7 | 940.9 | 226.0 | |
| Feb-00 | 1,152.2 | 2,676.4 | 923.5 | 217.2 | |
| Feb-01 | 999.5 | 2,750.4 | 908.2 | 183.0 | |
| Feb-02 | 951.9 | 2,745.6 | 877.1 | 176.8 | |
| Feb-03 | 942.5 | 2,776.6 | 848.9 | 156.4 | |
| Feb-04 | 892.1 | 2,777.5 | 830.3 | 155.3 | |
| Feb-05 | 824.0 | 2,757.7 | 793.1 | 153.9 | |
| Feb-06 | 926.4 | 2,705.6 | 777.1 | 153.0 | |
| Nov-06 | 947.2 | 2,673.1 | 775.6 | 161.0 | |
| Feb-07 | 920.0 | 2,662.2 | 771.4 | 163.2 | |
| Aug-07 | 852.9 | - | - | - | Total change |
| Change May 97 to Feb 07 | -699.6 | 45.9 | -242.8 | -93.0 | -989.5 |
| Change Feb 97 to Feb 07 | -832.8 | 61.7 | -249.2 | -102.3 | -1,122.6 |
| Change May 97 to latest | -766.7 | 45.9 | -242.8 | -93.0 | -1,056.6 |
DWP Press Office: Christian Cubitt/Caroline Luff: 020 3267 5129/5124
Out of Hours: 07659 108 883
Textphone: 020 7238 0788
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk
Footnotes
1. This table includes the main out-of-work client group categories, with the exception of carers who are not subject to activation policies in the same way as other groups.
2. UK figures (seasonally adjusted) published by ONS. This 100% series is the most reliable and up-to-date source for claimant unemployment.
3. GB figures (not seasonally adjusted). Published by DWP back to 1999 as part of the 100% working age client group analysis. Earlier consistent figures have been created by combining information from the previously published 5% sample data with the WPLS data. A consistent series
4. GB figures (not seasonally adjusted). Published by DWP back to 1999 as part of the 100% working age client group analysis. Before 1999 a 5% sample series is used, scaled to be consistent with the 100% data.
5. Excludes around 86,000 claimants in receipt of income support and carers allowance. This group is stable over time and does not affect the estimated decrease in benefit claimants.