THE UK LABOUR MARKETJUNE 2014

These slides reflect the opinions of the author and not the official position of the ONS

“Not only are the Brits grappling with the longest squeeze on their wages since the 1870s, but they are being squeezed on hours too.”

What did the media say last month?

Data Released Time Period Data Relates To

Employment Feb – April 2014

Unemployment Feb – April 2014

Claimant Count May 2014

Average Weekly Earnings April 2014

Workforce Jobs Jan – Mar 2014

Public Sector Employment Jan – Mar 2014

Data Released on 11th June 2014

Highest level ever recorded – but this is related to the

Increase in the UK population Highest quarterly growth ever recorded

UK Employment: February - April 2014

Tota

l

Employ

ees

Self

employ

ed

Unpaid

fam

ily w

orke

rs

Gover

nmen

t sup

porte

d tra

ining

& em

ploy

men

t pro

gram

mes

-100

100

300

500

700

900 780

457337

22

-37

Thousands

A 457,000 increase In the number of employees

A 337,000 increase in the number of self-employed people

Employment: Annual Changes

Lowest for five years, not seen this level or rate since 2009

UK Unemployment: February - April 2014

Lowest number of claimantssince 2008

Claimant Count: May 2014

Jan- Mar 2009 Jan- Mar 2010 Jan- Mar 2011 Jan- Mar 2012 Jan- Mar 2013 Jan- Mar 2014-4.0

-3.0

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

Earnings ex.bonuses

Earnings inc.bonuses

Consumer Prices Index

Growth in earnings inc. bonuses rose above growth in consumer prices for the

first time since 2010 last month. However, this month growth in earnings

including and excluding bonuses has fallen below growth in consumer prices

again.

Earnings & Prices: Growth Rates

Growth in earnings inc bonuses:Jan – Mar 2014 = 1.9% Feb – Apr 2014 = 0.7%

Why the fall?

Earnings inc bonuses unusually low: last year many

businesses waited to pay bonuses

until April

Growth in Jan – Mar 2014

was calculated by comparing:

Jan – Mar 2013 to Jan to Mar 2014

Leading to 1.9% growth

Earnings inc bonusesunusually high:

last year an unusual amount of businesses

paid bonusesIn April rather than March

Growth in Feb – Apr 2014

was calculated by comparing:

Feb – Apr 2013 to Feb to Apr 2014

Leading to 0.7% growth

Earnings inc bonuses normal for

this time of year

Earnings inc bonuses normal for

this time of year

Growth in Earnings inc. Bonuses

Mar 2009 Mar 2010 Mar 2011 Mar 2012 Mar 2013 Mar 201415

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23%

In June 2012 some educational bodies were reclassified to the private sector

In December 2013 Royal Mail was reclassified into the

private sector

In March 2014 Lloyds Banking Group plc was reclassified into the private sector

17.7%The lowest since

records began in 1999

% of Employment that is Public Sector Employment

Man

ufac

turin

g

Acom

mod

ation

& food

Prof

essio

nal, sc

ient

ific & te

chnica

l

Administ

rativ

e & su

ppor

t

Educ

ation

Serv

ices

Tota

l0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

45117

190 14996

862

1082 Data on workforce jobs is different from employment data

People can have more than one job, so the number of workforce jobs will be higher than the number of people in employment

This data is collected from businesses

Thousands

Increases in all types of jobs

But increases in jobs in the services sector is dominant

Workforce Jobs – Annual Change