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Unemployment in graphics Economy tracker: Unemployment
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Claimant count - December 2011Claimant count - December 2011
UK unemployment fell by 35,000 to 2.65 million in the three months to February, the first fall in almost a year, official figures have shown. Latest news:
The jobless rate was 8.3%, according to href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/april-2012/statistical-bulletin.html" >the Office for National Statistics (ONS), down from a 12-year high of 8.4% in the previous three-month period. href="/news/business-17752753" title="UK unemployment falls by 35,000" >UK unemployment fell by 35,000 to 2.65 million in the three months to February, the first fall in almost a year.
The unemployment total for 16-24 year olds was down 9,000 to 1.03 million, taking the unemployment rate for that age group to 22.2%. The official figures, href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/april-2012/statistical-bulletin.html" >compiled by the Office for National Statistics, showed that the jobless rate was 8.3%, down from a 12-year high of 8.4% in the previous three-month period.
The claimant count - the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance - increased by 3,600 to 1.61 million in March.The claimant count - the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance - increased by 3,600 to 1.61 million in March.
The number of people in employment in the three months to February was up by 53,000 over the previous quarter, with 29.17 million employed in the UK. However, the overall figure remains 57,000 lower than during the same period in 2011. Understanding unemployment:
  • A person is classed as unemployed if they are not only out of work, but also actively looking for work and available to start work within a fortnight
  • Unemployment figures are based on a survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics. They show the average number of people unemployed over a three-month period
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  • A new survey is done every month, but comparisons are made between separate three-month periods, not overlapping ones. e.g. April-June v Jan-March, not April-June v March-May
  • The ONS also publishes the claimant count which shows the number of people receiving Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in a particular month. That figure comes from information supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions
  • The unemployment figure is higher than the claimant count as many jobseekers do not or cannot claim JSA
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  • The two main measures can sometimes move in different directions. A change in benefits rules moving people onto JSA from another benefit, for example, would increase the claimant count without a corresponding increase in unemployment.
Background:
Unemployment is referred to as a lagging indicator because businesses will often delay laying people off as long as they can in difficult times.
A few months after the start of the recession in 2008, unemployment started to rise sharply. When the global financial crisis hit, the unemployment rate was a little over 5% or 1.6 million.
Towards the end of 2009, with the UK coming out of its severest recession since the 1950s, it was almost a million higher at 2.5 million, or 8%.
Since then firms have continued to lay off staff as the recovery has faltered. Unemployment peaked at almost 2.7 million at the end of 2011, its highest level for 17 years.
The number of 16-24 year olds looking for work has topped one million, or more than 22% of the workforce. Excluding those in full-time education, the figure is closer to 20%.
The number of unemployed women has also hit a record in recent months, even as male joblessness has begun to dip. Economists says this mostly reflects the greater number of women in the workforce, but there are concerns about the impact of public sector cuts, where a higher proportion of jobs are done by women.
Unemployment began to level off towards the end of 2011, and the beginning of 2012 saw the first fall in almost a year. The overall number of people in employment has been going up, as has the number working in the private sector.
For some this is a positive sign of economic recovery. For others it is tied to the higher numbers of people working part-time, with record numbers only doing so because they cannot find a full-time job.