Unemployment down to 42 year low

GreatApe

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/03/15/uk-unemployment-falls-lowest-level-40-years/

:T

GreatApe

The quality of jobs is improving too, as more workers gain full-time employment. The overall rise in employment was driven by a 136,000 increase in the number of people working full time, to 23.3m, while the numbers in part-time jobs dipped by 44,000 to 8.5m.

davomcdave

GreatApe wrote: »

The quality of jobs is improving too, as more workers gain full-time employment. The overall rise in employment was driven by a 136,000 increase in the number of people working full time, to 23.3m, while the numbers in part-time jobs dipped by 44,000 to 8.5m.

Good news about unemployment although it's a bit of a myth that part time jobs are no good.

My boss was recently featured in an article of 100 most powerful women and she works part-time. I work part-time and presented a policy document to the board this week and produced a paper last year that may well reshape an important part of my industry over the next five years. Most board members of listed companies work part-time for a start!

When surveyed the vast majority of part-time workers are happy to be working part-time. Hopefully those moving to full time work are mostly in the minority that would like to work more.

westernpromise

I work part time, but for full time money. :-)

michaels

The tax/benefits system has pushed me to work part time from April as I can get 94.5% of the total net remuneration for 70% of the hours.

davomcdave

westernpromise wrote: »

I work part time, but for full time money. :-)

Me too, I just prefer not to boast about it.

Conrad

GreatApe wrote: »

The quality of jobs is improving too, as more workers gain full-time employment. The overall rise in employment was driven by a 136,000 increase in the number of people working full time, to 23.3m, while the numbers in part-time jobs dipped by 44,000 to 8.5m.

That's interesting because gloomy LBC presenter James O'Brien's first hour or so this morning was in claiming the whole country is asleep and unaware millions of us are working on dreadfully insecure contracts. He was most exercised and claimed shareholders are squeezing every last penny from workers using the most onerous mean spirited contract provisions imaginable


Lots of callers gave examples


I think he's in some social justice warrior bubble though. Feels to me like the majority are making a good living these days, in the South anyway.

GreatApe

Conrad wrote: »

I think he's in some social justice warrior bubble though. Feels to me like the majority are making a good living these days, in the South anyway.

Even in the most prosperous times there will be people on great difficulties and hardships often due to personal problems be it mental or family or addiction issues. So there is no end to sob stories that can be found if you seek them out

The recession is now definitely behind us.
For those who invest time in themselves a good job should be obtainable. For those who do not try they can not complain that nobody is saving them from their lot

ruperts

It's great that more people are finding work and I put that down to the Tories doing the right thing by tightening up on benefits. But to say the jobs are of good quality or well paid is ridiculous. Only Greece, a country whose economy was totally destroyed, have a worse record on wage growth than the UK since 2007. Real wages in the UK have fallen by over 10% in that time. Meanwhile our productivity is still dreadful, thanks in large part to the government's unwillingness to invest in 21st century transport infrastructure.

Having an abundance of low wage, low productivity jobs isn't really something to celebrate.

westernpromise

Better than no jobs at all, like in Scotland.

worldtraveller

IMHO this will be pretty much as good as it gets in the UK, with maybe some small further improvements in the rate of employment, but I think that things may well get much more difficult later this year, in line with the rest of the global economy, which is, I believe, heading for a downturn.