The Office for National Statistics has announced the latest official labour market statistics. These are as follows:
- The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for February to April 2013 was 71.5%, down 0.1% from November 2012 to January 2013. There were 29.76 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 24,000 from November 2012 to January 2013.
- The unemployment rate for February to April 2013 was 7.8% of the economically active population, unchanged from November 2012 to January 2013. There were 2.51 million unemployed people, down 5,000 from November 2012 to January 2013.
- The inactivity rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for February to April 2013 was 22.4%, up 0.1% from November 2012 to January 2013. There were 8.99 million economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64, up 40,000 from November 2012 to January 2013.
- Between February to April 2012 and February to April 2013 total pay rose by 1.3% and regular pay rose by 0.9%.
Neil Carberry, CBI Director for Employment and Skills, said:
‘It’s encouraging to see businesses feel able to pay people a little more through one-off bonuses, as economic conditions appear to have brightened. The use of bonuses rather than base pay awards suggests firms are still being cautious.’
‘The labour market always lags a few months behind the economy, so it’s not surprising that overall, the picture on unemployment remains fairly flat.’
‘However, we expect to see improving economic conditions making a more positive impact on job creation later this year and it’s encouraging that once again the private sector more than offset the number of positions lost in the public sector during the first quarter.’
