22 April 2009 – McNulty: Delivering extra support to get people back to work
People who lose their jobs are getting real help to find their way back into work said Employment Minister Tony McNulty today.
From the start of this month jobseekers can get more help from day one of their claim, while the 25% who don’t move off benefits within six months now have access to greater support to get back into work.
New figures out today from the UK Statistics Authority show unemployment continuing to rise, though over a quarter of a million people left the claimant count last month.
Tony McNulty said:
“We know that times are tough and these figures are disappointing. However, lots of people are still finding work and while there were 363,500 new claims for JSA last month, over 275,000 people flowed off unemployment benefits – that’s an increase of 22,500 from last month.
“We will not give up on people and will do everything we can to make sure that if you become unemployed we can help you get back to work as quickly as possible. The extra package of support at both day one and six months of a claim is now available and being used to help people back into work. We have also invested £2bn to ensure Jobcentre Plus can continue to offer all its customers a first class service.”
Jobcentre Plus (JCP) can help employers and employees through its Rapid Response Service, which offers immediate support early on – even before someone becomes redundant. Over 1500 employers have used this support since the service was expanded in November last year.
From day one of becoming unemployed people can now take advantage of Local Employment Partnerships, which provide opportunities for people to find work with local employers. Last month each week 3,800 people got back to work through the scheme.
Over 300 recruitment agencies have signed up to help newly unemployed professionals by offering specialist job search support, and we now have 142 national companies working with JCP on take up of the new recruitment subsidy worth £1,000 along with access to training worth up to £1500, which will help unemployed people of six months or more into employment.
Notes to Editors
Background to labour market statistics: April 2009
This month’s labour force survey covers December 2008 to February 2009. The claimant count and Jobcentre Plus vacancy count dates were 12th and 6th March respectively.
The number of people in work fell this quarter and the number of workforce jobs was down
- 29.3 million people were in work in December to February.
- employment fell by 126 thousand on the quarter and is down 227 thousand on the year.
- the employment rate is 73.8%, down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and down 1.1 percentage points on the year.
- the number of workforce jobs was 31,318 in December 2008, down 203 thousand on the quarter and 284 thousand on the year.
The number of people claiming JSA has risen again this month
- claimant unemployment was 1,464.1 thousand in March 2009, up 73.7 thousand on the month, and up 672.1 thousand on the year.
- the claimant unemployment rate, at 4.5%, is up 0.2 percentage points this month and up 2.1 percentage points on the year.
- inflows to JSA were 363.5 thousand in March, up 1.8 thousand on the month and 158.6 thousand on the year. The number of people leaving JSA rose to 276.9 thousand, up 22.5 thousand on the month and up 74.4 thousand on the year.
- in the year to August 2008, the number of people claiming incapacity benefits fell by 51 thousand, to 2.6 million and the number receiving lone parent benefits fell 19 thousand to 745 thousand.
ILO unemployment has risen this quarter
- 2.1 million people were ILO unemployed in December to February, up by 177 thousand on the quarter and 486 thousand on the year.
- the ILO unemployment rate is 6.7%, up 0.6 percentage points on the quarter and up 1.5 percentage points on the year.
The level of economic inactivity is down on the quarter and down on the year
- the economic inactivity level is 7.851 million, down 5 thousand on the quarter and down 9 thousand on the year.
- the economic inactivity rate is 20.7%, unchanged on the quarter and down 0.1 percentage points on the year.
- excluding students, inactivity as a proportion of the working age population is down 0.3 percentage points on the quarter and down 0.5 percentage points over the last year, at 15.1%.
The number of redundancies is increasing although there are still many vacancies available
- there were 270 thousand redundancies this quarter, up 45 thousand on the previous quarter and up 162 thousand on the previous year.
- ONS’s vacancy survey estimates an average of 462 thousand unfilled vacancies in the three months to March 2009, down 68 thousand on the quarter, and down 230 thousand on the year.
- in the last month Jobcentre Plus has taken on average around 10,000 new vacancies every working day and many more come up through other recruitment channels.
Earnings growth in the year to February was 0.1%, down 1.6 percentage points from the December figure
- excluding bonuses, average earnings growth was 3.2%, down 0.3 percentage point from the January figure.
Key out-of-work benefits: latest levels, in thousands 1
| Date | Jobseeker's Allowance (claimant count) 2 |
Incapacity benefits 3 | Lone Parents on Income Support (IS) 3 |
Other (IS others and Pension Credit) 4 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May-97 | 1,619.6 | 2,616.3 | 1,014.2 | 256.2 |
| Aug-97 | 1,526.5 | 2,636.7 | 1,012.6 | 254.2 |
| Aug-98 | 1,340.7 | 2,631.8 | 955.7 | 231.6 |
| Aug-99 | 1,229.0 | 2,655.4 | 945.1 | 222.3 |
| Aug-00 | 1,060.4 | 2,714.9 | 920.1 | 198.0 |
| Aug-01 | 951.2 | 2,763.6 | 900.2 | 175.4 |
| Aug-02 | 945.7 | 2,769.4 | 875.0 | 167.2 |
| Aug-03 | 933.3 | 2,777.1 | 851.7 | 155.3 |
| Aug-04 | 834.5 | 2,774.9 | 818.1 | 158.2 |
| Aug-05 | 868.2 | 2,725.5 | 789.4 | 153.7 |
| Aug-06 | 951.5 | 2,683.0 | 783.2 | 153.1 |
| Aug-07 | 846.1 | 2,641.1 | 763.6 | 167.8 |
| May 08 | 818.7 | 2,595.8 | 738.6 | 173.3 |
| Aug-08 | 913.7 | 2,590.6 | 744.7 | 176.2 |
| Latest 6 | 1,464.1 | 2,590.6 | 744.7 | 176.2 |
| Change May 1997 to May 2008 |
-800.9 | -20.5 | -275.6 | -82.9 |
| Change since May 2008 7 | 645.4 | -5.2 | 6.1 | 2.9 |
| Change on year to latest | 672.1 | -50.5 | -18.9 | 8.4 |
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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. Latest figures are for March 2009.
3. GB figures (not seasonally adjusted). Published by DWP back to August 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 for the UK as a whole is not readily available.
4. GB figures (not seasonally adjusted). Published by DWP back to August 1999 as part of the 100% working age client group analysis. Before this point 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 has been stable over time and does not affect the estimated decrease in benefit claimants.
6. March 2009 for JSA and August 2008 for other benefits
7. May 2008-Mar 2009 for the claimant count, May 2008-Aug 2008 for other benefits (changes over this period may be affected by seasonality as the figures for other benefits are not seasonally adjusted)
