The latest ONS labour market statistics for Q4 of 2012 show little change. Unemployment has fallen marginally – a drop of 14000 using the Labour Force Survey method and down 12,500 from December 2012 - using the claimant count. The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 71.5%. There were 29.73 million … Continue reading More working: but for less →

Though the Tories and sections of the media have celebrated the ‘record fall’ in unemployment, the figures tell a different story, particularly for young people. The ONS data shows a 75 000 fall in joblessness for 16-24 year olds; but only 13 000 more in work. This is because of a fall in the overall … Continue reading A brief comment on December’s unemployment figures →

As the Olympics fade, a fall in unemployment is good news for government ministers desperate to hang onto any feel good factor – yet it’s difficult to reconcile, or believe the validity of such a claim, when economic reality appears so different. In particular, these figures cover a three month period between April and June … Continue reading Making sense of unemployment statistics →

                                 Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley                                  Why young people can't get the jobs they want                                   http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/soundings/current.html                                              Download  original version of   soundings article                                              Download e-book -why young people....

http://www.ier.org.uk/publications/federation-news-spring-2012-meeting-challenges-age          Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley      Federation News  Spring 2012 UK youth unemployment continues to be alarmingly high and one of the biggest issues facing government. Based on the April Office for National Statistics – figures which cover the period December 2011 to Feb 2012 – youth joblessness is well over a million, equals 22.2% … Continue reading Young and old both suffer in a changing labour market →

Barely a week now goes by without a new report about youth unemployment or a new set of solutions. Now it’s the turn of  revenant Lord Young, a failed property developer put in charge of the Manpower Services Commission to pioneer contracted out Youth Training Schemes in the 1980s and more recently sacked as an … Continue reading Pots of paint and ladders…… →

  At first reading, the 12,000 fall in the number of 18-24 year olds unemployed between Jan-March 2012 would seem consistent with the general fall in unemployment of 45,000.  At the same time however, there has only been a 3,000 increase in the number of 18-24 year olds working. This discrepancy reveals significant changes in … Continue reading A fall in youth joblessness but an increase in students →

It’s certainly true that if you go into any supermarket these days you will find far fewer young people on the tills. As Will Hutton observes ‘Talk to Sainsbury’s or any other major retailer and they say that they like older workers. They are more reliable, their absenteeism is lower, customers like them’ (quoted in … Continue reading Young people and the ‘ageing’ workforce →

Even though the Coalition has claimed that over 500 000 new private sector jobs have been created since it came to office, a large number, a majority in fact,  have been part-time. The monthly labour market figures from ONS regularly confirm the significance of part-time working in the UK economy. Figures for Dec 2011 -Feb … Continue reading Part-time Britain →

Latest  ONS  figures for the period Sept to Nov 2011 show:  1.04 million - 22.3% of ‘economically active’ 16-24 year olds are unemployed - up by 53 000.   829 000 -   20.8% of ‘economically active'  18-24 year olds are unemployed - up by 44.000. 729 000 unemployed 16-24 year olds ‘not in full-time education’ - … Continue reading Latest unemployment figures speak for themselves →