To make it even more strange the number in work rose by a staggering 236,000 in three months. There are now 29,600,000 people employed in the UK.
Of course there are other factors to consider. Only 100,000 of the new employees were working full time for example.
Also the long term unemployed, those unemployed for more than a year, rose again. This is worrying because some people seem to becoming detached from the workforce.
The figures need to be treated carefully. What was the Olympics influence? Will it be reversed in the next figures> But the most important question - is there really a recession if unemployment is falling and employment is rising?
Click through to the BBC economy page for more data
Whilst these figures are very refreshing after all the bad news we've had about the economy, I think they need to be taken with a pinch of salt. There is often a temporary rise in employment figures in summer when more jobs are available in places, but we are also seeing increasing long term unemployment along with the number of people working part-time because they are unable to find a full-time role hitting a record high of 1.4 million. The government have hailed these figures as 'a step in the right direction'. This is certainly true, but I hope they do not become complacent given the risks they face with their current economic policy. Personally I think the government need to borrow more in an attempt to revitalise the economy in the short term by investing in business, hopefully leading to a full recovery. - Robert Taylor
ReplyDeleteThe summer does bring along temporary jobs and especially this summer due with the olympics being in the uk, however this may not necessarily be a bad thing we also must consider the fact that a sudden influx of jobs will introduce many workers into or back into the workforce, for example teens who have never worked before and have some extra time on their hands or those who have been detached from the workforce for long periods of time and this may mean that they will leave that job and go on to the next, due to being reintroduced. However this is not to say that the figures will not fall again, they may do so but maybe not as low as the figures prior to these.
ReplyDelete