Larry Elliott
Jobless total rises to 2.51m • Unemployment rate at 7.9% • Public sector employment falls by 111,000 • Claimant count rises by 20,300 in August •Youth unemployment increases to 972,000
Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government's austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m, mainly due to a sharp rise in youth unemployment. Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years.
The number of people working part time because they could not find a full-time job reached a new record level. Michael Saunders, economist at Citi, said: "Worse news probably lies ahead. The number of redundancies is up 40% quarter on quarter, while vacancies are falling. Private sector employment is likely to weaken further as firms cut back on labor use, and firms may well cut back rather more quickly than in the early stages of the recession because there currently is less offsetting stimulus from new falls in interest rates. The jobless total is likely to rise above the recession peak soon, and probably will reach 2.7-2.8 million people (8.5%-9% of the workforce) during next year."
Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government's austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m, mainly due to a sharp rise in youth unemployment. Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years.
The number of people working part time because they could not find a full-time job reached a new record level. Michael Saunders, economist at Citi, said: "Worse news probably lies ahead. The number of redundancies is up 40% quarter on quarter, while vacancies are falling. Private sector employment is likely to weaken further as firms cut back on labor use, and firms may well cut back rather more quickly than in the early stages of the recession because there currently is less offsetting stimulus from new falls in interest rates. The jobless total is likely to rise above the recession peak soon, and probably will reach 2.7-2.8 million people (8.5%-9% of the workforce) during next year."
Actually, the unemployment is at about 20%, and that is growing. Those not working altogether is around 50%.
ReplyDeleteWorthless Guardian...
I believe we're in a depression not in recession. If you read and see the correct definition of a depressionary period....it'll correlate perfectly to what is happening. I think they're trying to sell us on a recession hogwash. It's gonna be a rough one. Never seen this blog...need to check back. Interesting. Good luck to all.
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