Increase in part-time workers results in labour market improvement

The number of people unemployed in the UK fell by 34,000 in the three months to May, to 2.47 million, official figures show.

Data released today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also shows a reduction of 20,800 in the numbers claiming jobseeker’s allowance, to 1.46 million. The jobless rate is therefore now 7.8 per cent, down from 7.9 per cent.

The number of people in work rose by 160,000 in the three months to May, the biggest rise since August 2006. However, most of the increase was attributed to an increase in part-time workers (up by 117,000 in the quarter) and self-employed workers (up by 59,000); the full-time workforce actually diminished by 22,000.

The ONS said that 27 per cent of people in work are employed part-time, the highest proportion since records began in 1992.


There was bad news on long-term unemployment, with the number of people out of work for longer than 12 months standing at 787,000, up by 61,000 in the last quarter.


CIPD chief economic adviser John Philpott commented that the figures were easily the best since the recession started two years ago, but the coming public-sector jobs squeeze may mean this is the “calm before the storm”.

“A spring 2010 pick-up in employment comes as no surprise to the CIPD, since this is what our own surveys of employers’ hiring intentions had shown. Worryingly, however, more recent employer surveys suggest the pace of jobs recovery has slowed since the spring, placing a question mark over whether the private sector will in the short-run generate enough jobs to offset mounting public sector job cuts,” said Philpott.

“Moreover, while the jobs market improved in the spring all the net new jobs being created were either part-time, temp positions or filled by the self-employed. The number of full-time employees continued to fall while the number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job further increased to reach 1.06 million.”

On a more positive note, there are signs that the youth employment situation may be improving, and one of the challenges for the coalition government is to get its planned work programme up and running in time to effect further recovery in this area, said Philpott.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber commented: “These are flat, disappointing figures and you need a magnifying glass to see much sign of recovery here. And because unemployment lags behind the rest of the economy we have yet to see any impact from the new government’s policies on the dole queue. When the cuts start to bite not only will jobs be lost from the public sector but across the private sector too

14th July 2010

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)