Unemployment rate falls to 43 year low, with record low youth unemployment.
Due to our efforts, and the hard work of the British People, the jobs market has been transformed since 2010 as employment figures out today show.
The unemployment rate has fallen to a 43 year low, down from 4.2% to 4.0%, whilst the employment rate remains high at 75.6%. The number of people in employment has increased by over 3.3 million since 2010, with almost 75% of this rise in employment is in permanent, full-time jobs, and 104,000 fewer people are on zero hours contracts.
On average, over 1,000 more people are moving in work each and every day since 2010, showing how the steps this Government has taken are helping more people into work, from all backgrounds and from every part of the UK.
The upturn in employment is being felt across the board too with the employment rate of people from ethnic minorities at a record high of 65.5%, and youth unemployment is at a record low, falling by of over 45% since 2010.
There are currently a record 829,000 job vacancies in the economy, providing opportunities for those wanting to move into work, or change career and with real wages continuing to outstrip inflation this means that more people are continuing to feel the benefits in their pockets.
Our welfare reforms are working and linked with our modern industrial strategy we are continuing to support more people into work and deliver more well-paid jobs across the country.
More statistics:
New jobs figures show that in the past year, the unemployment rate has reached its lowest level since 1975, and wages are rising faster than prices.
We want to help people into work by reforming welfare and delivering our modern Industrial Strategy to help create more, better paying jobs across the whole country.
Since 2010 the number of people in work has risen by over 3.3 million and the unemployment rate is now at a 43-year low – meaning more people have the security of a job and are able to provide for their families.
Only the Conservatives will continue to take the balanced approach our economy needs, creating jobs and opportunities to help people get on in life and build a better future for themselves and their families.
Key statistics
- Employment: 32.39 million (up 313,000 over the last year and up by 3.34 million since 2010).
- Employment rate: 75.6 per cent (up 0.4 points over the past year and up 5.3 points since 2010).
- Unemployment: 1.36 million (down 124,000 over the past year and down by 1.15 million since 2010).
- Unemployment rate: 4.0 per cent (down 0.4 points over the past year and down 3.9 points since 2010) – the lowest since 1975.
- Wages: Latest figures show that average weekly earnings for employees in real terms increased by 0.4 per cent excluding bonuses, compared with a year earlier.
- Youth unemployment: There are over 447,000 fewer young people out of work since 2010 and the proportion of young people who are unemployed and not in full time education is at a record low of 4.7 per cent.
Other useful statistics:
- Wages are rising faster than prices – this is good news, but there is more to do. In the last year, regular pay (excluding bonuses) for employees in Great Britain increased by 0.4 percentage points ahead of inflation.
- The rate of employment is 75.6 per cent.
- The unemployment rate is 4.0 per cent – the lowest since 1975.
- We’ve seen almost 600,000 disabled people enter work over a 4 year period (between Q2 2013 and Q2 2017).
- The employment rate among ethnic minority groups is now at a record high of 65.5 per cent, with 487,000 more people from BME backgrounds in work since 2015. This is 73 per cent of the way towards our target to increase the level of BME employment by 20 per cent by 2020.
- Vacancies are at a record 829,000 in the three months to July 2018, up 51,000 on the previous year and up by 363,000 since 2010.
- The number of people working full time is 23.86 million – a joint record high and up by 2.63 million since 2010.
- There are now over 1.6 million more women in work since 2010.
- Youth unemployment has fallen by 47.6 per cent since 2010.
- The UK has the 3rd highest employment rate in the G7.
It was Labour that left people with fewer jobs and fewer opportunities:
- The number of unemployed people increased by one million during Labour’s last term in office.
- Youth unemployment rose by 44 per cent under Labour – meaning young people were not getting the skills they need to get on in life.
- The number of women unemployed rose by 25 per cent under Labour.
- The number of households where no member had ever worked nearly doubled under Labour.
- No Labour government has ever left office with unemployment lower than when it arrived.
Labour would put investment and jobs at risk:
- Labour have pledged to raise Corporation Tax to 26 per cent by 2020-21 – making it harder for businesses to invest.
- The IFS say that working people would be hit with lower wages and higher prices under Labour’s tax rises: ‘In the longer term, much of the cost [of tax rises] is likely to be passed to workers through lower wages or consumers through higher prices’.