More bad news on the state of the UK labour market as the pre-Christmas unemployment data release arrives.The UK unemployment rate has hit its highest level in 15 years, while youth unemployment has notched up another record high.
Highest unemployment rate since 1996
The latest unemployment data release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) brought news of rises in unemployment across a range of measures. These include the following:
- The headline unemployment rate (on the ILO definition) rose to 8.3% between August and October 2011. This represents an increase of 0.4 percentage points on the rate recorded for the previous quarter (7.9%).
- The number of unemployed people rose by 128,000, to 2.64 million.
- ONS comments: "The unemployment rate is the highest since 1996 and the number of unemployed people is the highest since 1994."
- A breakdown of the number of unemployed people by gender reveals the following: "The number of unemployed men was 1.53 million in the three months to October 2011, up 83,000 from the three months to July 2011. The number of unemployed women was 1.10 million in the three months to October 2011, up 45,000 from the three months to July 2011."
As XpertHR's December 2011 economic commentary notes, there are widespread concerns that the UK unemployment situation will worsen in 2012 as confidence dries up and the pace of public sector job cuts accelerates.
Sharp fall in public sector employment level
Public sector employment levels showed a sharp decline in the latest data release. Private sector employment levels showed a slight increase, but not sufficient to offset the shrinkage in the public sector figure. ONS says:
The number of people employed in the public sector fell by 67,000 between June and September 2011 to reach 5.99 million, the lowest figure since September 2003. The number of people employed in the private sector increased by 5,000 on the quarter to reach 23.12 million.Across the whole economy, the employment rate for 16 to 64 year olds was 70.3%, having fallen back by 0.2 percentage points from the preceding quarter.
Youth unemployment rate hits another record high, rising to 22%
Having passed the "million milestone" last month, youth unemployment has once again registered a record high.
The latest official unemployment figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals the following as regards youth unemployment:
- The number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in the UK rose to 1.03 million over the three months to October 2011. This represents an increase of 54,000 on the previous quarter.
- The youth unemployment rate rose to 22.0% over the three months between August and October 2011, an increase of 1.2 percentage points on the preceding quarter's rate (20.8%).
- ONS comments: "The unemployment level and rate for people aged from 16 to 24 are the highest since directly comparable records began in 1992. However earlier data, calculated on a slightly different basis, indicates that the level of youth unemployment was higher in the mid-1980s."
Youth unemployment: Alternative measure of youth unemployment in focus
The Government is reportedly lobbying to replace the internationally-accepted youth unemployment measure with the alternative measure of youth unemployment.
This alternative measure of youth unemployment was introduced following pressure from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, who argued that the internationally-accepted measure of youth unemployment (which was then perceived to be accelerating rapidly towards the "million milestone") is "misleading." Economist David Blanchflower has recently suggested that the alternative measure of youth unemployment could itself risk being misleading.
The CIPD suggests that CIPD research influenced the Coalition Government's thinking on the alternative measure of youth unemployment. The CIPD favours the alternative measure of youth unemployment. However, the CIPD's press releases in response to ONS' monthly unemployment data releases over recent months have focused on the internationally-accepted measure of youth unemployment, and have failed to make any mention of the alternative measure. The CIPD's press release on today's unemployment data makes no reference to youth unemployment on any measure.
The CIPD's association with the Work and Pensions Secretary continues, with the publication of a new article from Iain Duncan Smith on the CIPD website, promoting the Government's Work Experience Scheme as a way to "help break the youth unemployment cycle."
The Government is reportedly lobbying to replace the internationally-accepted youth unemployment measure with the alternative measure of youth unemployment.
This alternative measure of youth unemployment was introduced following pressure from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, who argued that the internationally-accepted measure of youth unemployment (which was then perceived to be accelerating rapidly towards the "million milestone") is "misleading." Economist David Blanchflower has recently suggested that the alternative measure of youth unemployment could itself risk being misleading.
The CIPD suggests that CIPD research influenced the Coalition Government's thinking on the alternative measure of youth unemployment. The CIPD favours the alternative measure of youth unemployment. However, the CIPD's press releases in response to ONS' monthly unemployment data releases over recent months have focused on the internationally-accepted measure of youth unemployment, and have failed to make any mention of the alternative measure. The CIPD's press release on today's unemployment data makes no reference to youth unemployment on any measure.
The CIPD's association with the Work and Pensions Secretary continues, with the publication of a new article from Iain Duncan Smith on the CIPD website, promoting the Government's Work Experience Scheme as a way to "help break the youth unemployment cycle."
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