21 January 2009 – McNulty: we will continue to provide real help for job seekers to fill the half a million vacancies in the UK

New figures out today show there are still over half a million vacancies across the country, and that despite unprecedented global economic challenges causing UK unemployment to rise, the Government is helping people with real support to get back into work as quickly as possible.

A robust package of support for people who lose their jobs is in place including: more funding for Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service (RRS), which provides support on the ground when companies are looking to make people redundant; an extra 6,000 frontline staff to help people from day one; and for the 25% of people who don’t move off Jobseekers’ Allowance within six months, more money for retraining, a chance of subsidised employment, volunteering opportunities and even help to set up their own business.

These measures will continue to ensure that people get the best possible support to get back into work quickly, and work in tandem with wider measures announced by the Chancellor on Monday to help the banks unlock credit and get money moving again, supporting businesses and homeowners.

Employment Minister, Tony McNulty said:

“In these tough times, people need real help to find a job. That’s exactly what this Government is offering and everyday people are finding work.

“These figures show that whilst more people are claiming Jobseekers Allowance, 231,000  have come off in the last month as people take advantage of the extra help on offer.

“The Government is doing all it can to ensure economic stability for businesses, homeowners and jobseekers. The measures that we have introduced over the recent months are designed to support the recovery of the economy and ensure that people have the best support to get back into employment.

 “Every person looking needs to know that there are jobs out there and we will give you the support you need to fill one of those half a million vacancies that are available right now. We will continue to ensure everyone who loses their job has access to the full range of support that Jobcentre Plus has available.

“Our message to job seekers is clear – we won’t give up on you but you mustn’t give up on looking for work.”

The Labour Market Statistics are published today by the UK Statistics Authority and can be found at www.statistics.gov.uk

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Headline statistics

Employment

Employment fell this quarter, but remains historically high:

• 29.4 million people were in work in September to November.
• employment fell by 26 thousand on the quarter but is up 25 thousand on the year
• the employment rate is 74.2%, down 0.2 percentage points on the quarter and down 0.5 percentage points on the year

Key Out-of-Work Benefits

The number of people claiming JSA has risen this month:

• claimant unemployment was 1,157.2 thousand in December 2008, up 77.9 thousand on the month, and up 349.5 thousand on the year. 

• the claimant unemployment rate, at 3.6%, is up 0.2 percentage points this month and up 1.1 percentage points on the year.
• inflows to JSA were 320.8 thousand in December, up 23.1 thousand on the month and 119.0 thousand on the year. The number of people leaving JSA rose to 231.5 thousand, up 6.6 thousand on the month and up 11.2 thousand on the year.

The number of people claiming other key out of-of-work benefits fell in the year to May 2008, though this data is much less timely than that for JSA:

• in the year to May 2008, the number of people claiming incapacity benefits fell by 47.4 thousand, to 2.6 million and the number receiving lone parent benefits fell 27 thousand to 739 thousand.

ILO Unemployment

ILO unemployment has risen this quarter:

• 1.92 million people were ILO unemployed in September to November, up by 131 thousand on the quarter and 290 thousand on the year
• the ILO unemployment rate is 6.1%, up 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.9 percentage points on the year.

Inactivity

The level of economic inactivity is down on the quarter and down on the year:

• the economic inactivity level is 7.86 million, down 30 thousand on the quarter and down 38 thousand on the year.
• the economic inactivity rate is 20.8%, down 0.1 percentage point on the quarter and down 0.2 percentage points on the year.
• excluding students, inactivity as a proportion of the working age population is unchanged on the quarter and down 0.4 percentage points over the last year, at 15.4%.

Redundancies

The number of redundancies is increasing although there are still many vacancies available:

• There were 225 thousand redundancies this quarter, up 78 thousand on the previous quarter and up 101 thousand on the previous year.
• ONS’s vacancy survey estimates an average of 530 thousand unfilled vacancies in the three months to December 2008, down 69 thousand on the quarter, and down 153 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

Earnings growth in the year to November was 3.1%, down 0.2 from October:

• excluding bonuses, average earnings growth was 3.6%, unchanged from the October figure.

The Economy

• Growth is 0.3% on the year, and was -0.6% in the three months to September.
• Inflation was 3.1% in the year to December, down from 4.1% in November but still above the Bank’s target rate of 2.0%.

International Picture

The UK continues to have one of the highest employment rates in the world:

• second highest employment rate in G7 – ahead of Japan, US, France, Germany and Italy, just behind Canada.
• And one of top four in EU – ahead of France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain

Key out-of-work benefits: latest levels, in thousands ¹

• Between May 1997 and May 2008, the number of people claiming one of the main out-of-work benefits fell by 1,173,900.  Since then there has been a rise in the number of JSA claimants, but it remains the case that the overall number of people on out of work benefits has fallen by over three quarters of a million compared to 1997.

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 December 2008.
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. November 2008 for JSA and May 2008 for other benefits