Hidden amongst the barrage of cuts announced in the June Budget was a further extension in the work requirements applied to single parents. The last Government had already compelled those with children aged seven and over to seek work from this October. The Coalition announced that it will bring down the age to 5, reckoning that this will save £380 million, and see 100,000 more parents in work.

The Coalition seems to follow the last Government in believing that single parents are not in work because benefit conditions are not tight enough. But we know that nine out of ten single parents want a paid job; the problem is that the jobs they could fit with their family life aren’t out there. Read more »

   Filed under: Labour market, Work-life balance | No Comments »

I have a post up at Left Foot Forward considering the mystery of DWP’s statistics on workless households. Over the course of recent weeks we have been told that 23, then 7 and then 4 per cent of households in London have never had a job, and that workless student households are part of a problem that the country needs to “tackle now”.  Could politicians be putting a party-political spin on statistical information?

   Filed under: Labour market, Politics | 1 Comment »

The Social Security Advisory Committee is running a consultation on a set of regulations that will amend the Work Capability Assessment, which is used to assess eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The consultation is set out in an extensive DWP Explanatory Memorandum, which has now been published on the SSAC website. This document includes a short discussion on the future shape of welfare to work services, which includes the following text (bold is my own):

we intend to build on the strengths of the personalised support delivered through JSA so that personal advisers can assess an individual’s need in order to provide enhanced support and low cost, flexible provision, to help improve employability.

Read more »

   Filed under: Labour market, Welfare | 1 Comment »

Download the 6th TUC Labour Market Report

The TUC’s 6th Labour Market Report provides an overview of the most recent labour market data. While falling unemployment and rising employment levels are good news, there are also a number of concerning signs about the future direction of the labour market recovery, with the rate at which unemployment is falling starting to slow, and under-employment remaining high.

Between April and June ILO unemployment was 2,457,000. While this was a fall of 49,000 on the quarter, the level only fell 12,000 on the previous month’s release (March – May) and unemployment by the ILO measure remains 841,000 higher than January 2008.  Read more »

   Filed under: Economic Reports, Labour Market Reports, Labour market | 2 Comments »

One early indication of the impact of the Building Schools for the Future cuts cropped up in yesterday’s unemployment stats: an 11.5% increase in unemployment among architects over the past month. This is the first rise in unemployment in the profession for ten months after levels peaked in August 2009, reports journal BD.

   Filed under: Cuts Watch, Cuts Watch: Education, Economics, Labour market | 2 Comments »

I have a post up on Left Foot Forward discussing the latest labour market data – while employment continues to increase, and unemployment is still falling, the rates of change have started to slow.  So far vacancies have failed to pick up. There are still five jobseekers for each job nationally, and that’s before the 2,339,000 economically inactive people who would like to work have been included. The Government needs to focus on providing unemployed people with real support to move into work– and on a growth strategy that will create jobs – but so far it is failing on both counts.

   Filed under: Labour market | 1 Comment »

The latest Report on Jobs by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation reveals that the rate at which new jobs are being created has slowed down, providing “the first real indicator that cuts in the public sector are beginning to bite.” Read more »

   Filed under: Cuts Watch, Labour market | 1 Comment »

The findings of Scotland’s Independent Budget Review have been published. The full report states that the June Budget’s implications for  Scotland will have “significant knock-on effects for output and employment across the Scottish economy, in both the public and private sectors”, an assertion that is based on economic forecasts that have been carried out by the Department of Economics in Strathclyde University. Read more »

   Filed under: Budget, Forecasts, Labour market | 2 Comments »

Last week the ONS published their excellent Economic and Labour Market Review, highlighting analysis that shows that since Jan – March 2009 underemployment levels have been greater than those for overemployment. In the first quarter of 2010 there were 2.81 million people classed as being in time-related underemployment, compared with 2.75 million people who were classed as being in time-related overemployment. Read more »

   Filed under: Economics, Labour market | No Comments »

Download the 5th TUC Labour Market Report

Today we have published our latest Labour Market Report, which takes a brief look at the most recent employment data. Unemployment using the International Labour Organisation definition is down 4,000 from last month and the ‘claimant count’ fell 20,800 – this measure has fallen in eight of the last ten months.

There was some more good news in the employment figure, which was 119,000 higher than last month’s figure and 160,000 higher than the figure for the last quarter. The month-on-month change is biggest increase since records began in 1971, the quarter-on-quarter increase the biggest since 2006. Read more »

   Filed under: Labour Market Reports, Labour market, Unemployment | No Comments »

As Richard’s post on Left Foot Forward has shown, today’s labour market statistics are mixed. While the rise in employment is welcome, full-time work remains elusive and job creation levels (in contrast to Chris Grayling’s assessments) are still low. Vacancies are also far from healthy.

Our analysis of last month’s data showed that vacancies across the economy were down 29% on their pre-recession levels, but today we have learnt that this picture is even worse: data revisions mean that the numbers of vacancies for  are lower than were published previously, and the fall from April 2008 has been 30%. Across the economy, in industries including construction, manufacturing , public administration and retail, there are simply far fewer jobs available than there were two years ago. As our new map shows, in many areas of the country there are not enough jobs for unemployed people to do. Read more »

   Filed under: Economics, Forecasts, Labour market | 1 Comment »

Fresh evidence shows that the government blames unemployed people for unemployment. A story in yesterday’s Sunday Times revealed that there are 7,000 vacancies at jobcentres that have not been filled for six months or more. This brought a response from Employment Minister Chris Grayling that is becoming predictable:

“The fact these jobs are advertised for a long period shows the current welfare system is not working. After a decade of throwing money at the problem, there are still five million people out of work living on benefits.”

What enrages me is the casual segue from 7,000 unfilled jobs to explaining five million people on benefits. Read more »

   Filed under: Labour market, Unemployment | 4 Comments »