DWP Press Release 15 October 2008 - Support for Britain's unemployed

Employment figures, published today, show that unemployment in the UK has risen by 164,000 on the last quarter to 1.79m, and the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has risen by 31,800 over the last month. However, figures also show there are over 600,000 vacancies across the country.

As the figures show the impact of the economic difficulties is beginning to be felt in the employment figures - the Government is better placed than ever before to help people get back to work as soon as possible - for example:

• When someone claims, their personal advisor will work with them to set a personalised plan with achievable goals aimed at getting them quickly back into work.
• People are seen every two weeks to ensure they have been looking for work and offer more help.
• Skills and training are offered so that people are equipped to adapt to a changing job market.
• Plus practical advice on finding a job, CV writing, interview techniques, advice on childcare options as well as expenses for travel and even smart clothes to interviews.

Tony McNulty, Minister for Employment said: 

"The UK has one of the strongest labour markets in the developed world, which along with the world class service provided by Jobcentre Plus is geared up to deal with the current global economic difficulties.  There are still jobs available, with more than 600,000 vacancies across the country."

In addition to the support from Jobcentre Plus a further £100m will be made available to help people who lose their jobs, as the UK stands up to the challenges of the global economic climate. The extra cash will help unemployed people and those facing redundancy retrain and develop their skills so they can quickly move back into sustainable employment.

The money will be carefully targeted, for example on people from sectors experiencing significant job losses and on people who need support to move back into work.

On the additional funding, Mr McNulty said:

"The new money we are announcing today will help fund training and support so that we can ensure people facing redundancy can access these vacancies and get back to work quickly."

Background to labour market statistics: October 2008

This month's labour force survey covers June to August 2008. The claimant unemployment and vacancy count dates were 11th September and 5th September respectively.

Employment fell this quarter but remains historically high

• 29.4 million people were in work in June to August.
• employment fell by 122 thousand on the quarter but is up 199 thousand on the year
• the employment rate is 74.4%, down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and down 0.1 percentage points on the year

The number of people claiming JSA has risen this month, but the number of people claiming other key out of-of-work benefits are falling

• the claimant count was  939.9 thousand in September 2008, up 31.8 thousand on the month, and up 104.9  thousand on the year.  The claimant unemployment rate, at 2.9%, is up 0.1 percentage points this month and up 0.3 on the year.
• in the year to February 2008, the number of people claiming incapacity benefits fell by 44 thousand, to 2.62 million and the number receiving lone parent benefits fell 30 thousand to 742 thousand.

ILO unemployment has risen this quarter

• 1.8 million people were ILO unemployed in June to August, up by 164 thousand on the quarter and 146 thousand on the year
• the ILO unemployment rate is 5.7%, up 0.5 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.4 percentage points on the year.

Economic inactivity up on the quarter, down on the year

• the economic inactivity level is 7.89 million, up 16 thousand on the quarter but down  74 thousand on the year.
• the economic inactivity rate is 20.9%, unchanged on the quarter and down 0.3 percentage points on the year.
• excluding students, inactivity as a proportion of the working age population is down 0.5 percentage points over the last year, at 15.6%.

There are over 600 thousand vacancies and redundancies remain historically low

• ONS's vacancy survey estimates an average of 608 thousand unfilled vacancies in the three months to September 2008, down 40 thousand on the quarter, and down 62 thousand on the year
• More than 10,000 new vacancies are placed at Jobcentres every day and many more come up through other recruitment channels
• There were 147 thousand redundancies this quarter, up 28 thousand on the previous quarter and 28 thousand on the previous year.

Earnings growth in the year to August was 3.4%, down 0.1 percentage points from July

• Excluding bonuses, average earnings growth was 3.6%, down 0.1 percentage points from the July figure.

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

• Between May 1997 and May 2007, the number of people claiming one of the main out-of-work benefits fell by 1,053,000. 

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