The UK’s unemployment rate is at 4.8% and 2016 was a recording breaking year for unemployment as it was down by over 100,000 people. Last year also produced more ground breaking facts and figures including:
- Having kept 31.8 million people in work, up by 2.7 million since 2010
- Almost 15 million women in work, which is a record high
- Long-term unemployment is at the lowest it has been since 2008, fallen to 418,000
- Youth unemployment fell 350,000 since 2010 to 587,000
- 41% of the 420,000 people now receiving Universal Credit are now in work
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Damian Green has announced that the past year will be one to be remember as there were so many records made. He said there is an all-time high of employment with more women, older workers and ethnic minority groups in work than ever before. However, even though the labour market is on the up, there is still more to do according to Rachel Smith, CBI Principal Labour Market Adviser. She has advised that even though the unemployment levels have seen a slight drop, employment levels have remained more or less the same. Therefore there is a mixed picture of the labour market, as well as the rise of inflation which is hitting workers’ pay packets harder.
For more information: GOV. UK unemployment rate GOV.UK universal credit statistics CBI comment
