UK Unemployment statistics

ENGLAND | 18 – 07 – 2009 | UK unemployment is rising faster in this recession than at any time since the 1980s, according to official figures. The BBC News website is keeping track of jobs lost and created. This is not a comprehensive study but a snapshot from around the UK since 1 January.

UK unemployment rose by a record 281,000 to 2.38 million in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics has said.

The jobless rate increased to 7.6%, the highest in more than 10 years.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 23,800 in June to 1.56 million, which was less than analysts had forecast.

Unemployment among young people has been especially acute, as firms cut jobs to reduce costs in the downturn.

Fear of unemployment

Young people – those up to 24 years old – have been particularly hard hit with unemployment leaping to a 16-year high of 726,000.

The number of those out of work for more than a year rose by 46,000 to 528,000, the highest for 11 years.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “It’s particularly worrying that over half a million unemployed people have been out of work for at least a year, including 133,000 young unemployed people.”

“With a new generation of school and college leavers soon starting to look for work, our unemployment crisis will get even bigger.

Separately on Wednesday a BBC survey suggested two-thirds of people across the UK know someone who has lost a job in the recession.

A further four in 10 fear losing their job in the current climate, the survey of 1,048 people by ComRes indicates.

‘Conflicting signals’

Even though economic conditions may be stabilising, economists expect unemployment to continue rising this year, as financial uncertainty persists.

Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics said the latest figures contained “conflicting signals about whether conditions in the labour market are getting better or worse”.

The increase in the unemployment total of 281,000 in the three months to May was the biggest quarterly rise since records of the ILO measure began in 1971.

However, the rise in the claimant count in June was less than expected, and May’s increase in the claimant count was revised down to 30,800 from the original estimate of 39,000.

“The claimant count measure of unemployment in June posted its smallest rise in a year. However, the wider ILO measure posted its biggest rise on record,” said Ms Redwood.

But, she said, unemployment was unlikely to fall until economic growth returned to its trend rate, and this would take a long time.

Of the different figures released, it is the internationally recognised ILO figure of 2.38 million that is the government’s preferred measure for unemployment, because it is a more comprehensive indicator of the job market.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has called for an enquiry into this “conundrum” of the differing figures.

Vacancies

Average UK earnings including bonuses increased at their highest rate since December, up 2.3% in the three months to May from a year ago.

However, excluding bonuses average earnings rose at 2.6% – the lowest rate since records started in 2001.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce described the figures as “grim reading”.

“On the basis of these numbers, we reaffirm our forecast that unemployment will peak at around 3.2 million next year.”

Not only is unemployment rising, figures show that the number of jobs available has also fallen.  The number of vacancies dropped to a record low of 429,000 in the three months to June, down by 35,000 from the previous quarter.

The number of unemployed men increased by almost 200,000 to 1.46 million, and 84,000 more women were out of work, putting female unemployment at 923,000.

UK-WIDE

• Lloyds Banking Group is to close all 164 branches of Cheltenham & Gloucester, risking up to 1,500 jobs.
• The Forensic Science Service (FSS) may axe up to 800 jobs, according to the Prospect trade union.
• Twenty eight jobs are being lost at the Royal Bank of Scotland International’s (RBSI) operations in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.
• Lloyds Banking Group plans to shed 530 jobs and close one site in Kent. All jobs will go before year-end.
• QinetiQ, a defence research and technology company, has announced it is cutting 400 jobs. The business operates over 40 sites with major facilities located at Farnborough in Hampshire, Malvern in Worcestershire and Boscombe Down, Wiltshire
• Lloyds Banking Group has announced it is cutting a further 210 full-time jobs from across the UK by the end of 2010.
• Retailer Clinton Cards has put its subsidiary chain of 223 Birthdays stores into administration, putting more than 2,000 jobs at risk.
• Fashion retailer Bay Trading is to shed about 1,230 jobs and close 125 outlets after administrators agreed a deal to sell the chain.
• Lloyds Banking Group has announced it is cutting 625 jobs in the UK. The job losses will be evenly split between Scotland and England & Wales.
• Designer fashion store Cruise has closed three stores and is reviewing a number of others after being forced to call in administrators. About 30 jobs have been lost but it is not known how many others posts may be under threat.
• BT says it will cut about 15,000 jobs this year, mostly in the UK. The firm also said it had cut 15,000 jobs in the past year, which was 5,000 more than expected.
• Lebara Mobile is creating 130 jobs and opening a new customer services centre in London. One hundred of the positions will be in the capital with the others spread across the midlands, the north and Scotland.
• The insurance firm Legal & General has begun consulting on plans to cut 560 jobs in its savings business. Its main offices are in London, Cardiff, Brighton and Kingswood in Surrey.
• Shropshire stationery supplier Lyreco UK has announced plans to cut more than 60 jobs across the UK and Ireland.
• Tyneside-based software giant Sage is to shed 200 jobs across its 23 offices in the UK.
• Wolseley, a company that supplies the construction industry, is to lay off 269 people in Lancashire and Oxfordshire.
• Defence giant BAE Systems is to close three factories in the UK, resulting in the loss of 500 jobs. The sites at Telford, Leeds and Guildford will close by the end of the year.
• Scottish Widows has been chosen to carry forward pensions and investment products for the Lloyds Banking Group, but more than 300 staff will be cut.
• Wind turbine-maker Vestas Wind Systems is to cut 1,900 jobs – mainly in the UK and Denmark – despite reporting a 70% rise in quarterly profits. It will be closing its UK turbine plant on the Isle of Wight, cutting 450 jobs.
• GreenThumb, a company which maintains garden lawns, is to create 1,000 new jobs. The firm, which has 186 branches across the UK, said business had boomed in the recession as more people invest in their homes rather than move.
• UK insurer Aviva is to cut 1,100 permanent jobs and 590 contract positions during 2009. The majority of the jobs being lost are at the offices in York, Norwich, Sheffield and Eastleigh
• Railway engineer Jarvis is to cut about 450 jobs as its largest customer, Network Rail, reduces spending
• Nortel Networks UK has gone into administration after its parent firm filed for US bankruptcy protection. The company announced that 228 posts were going across the UK
• Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC, has said up to 1,200 of its staff in the UK could face redundancy. An operation centre in Leamington Spa, near Warwick, will lose 280 positions; a call centre in Newport, Wales, will be shut down; and about 150 jobs will be lost in London
• Snooker clubs group Rileys has gone into administration with the loss of 200 jobs and closure of 30 sites due to a downturn in trade and large debts.
• The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is to cut 1,000 jobs.
• At least 320 jobs are to go at distribution centres belonging to catering supplies company King UK . The sites affected are in Rugby, Hemel Hempstead, Cumbernauld, Northampton, Plymouth, Skelmersdale, Birmingham, Medway, Rotherham and Cardiff
• Department store chain Debenhams says it will create 1,200 jobs by the end of 2010
• A total of 400 redundancies are made at Wrekin Construction Group after the firm goes into administration. Redundancies are made at bases across Shropshire, Yorkshire, Northamptonshire and Cheshire
• Principles announces that it will close 66 shops blaming current market conditions. A significant number of the 2,300 staff at the high street fashion chain are to go, administrators said. One hundred head office staff have already been made redundant
• Broadcaster ITV says it will be cutting 600 jobs as it attempts to reduce costs in the face of a severe advertising downturn
• Insurance firm Royal Sun Alliance says it is to cut 1,200 jobs in the UK by the middle of 2010
• The BBC learns that insurance firm Legal & General is planning to cut between 250 and 450 jobs. Legal & General’s main offices are in London, Cardiff, Brighton and Kingswood in Surrey
• Standard Life cuts 195 jobs around the country. They will include 69 jobs in Bristol, 34 in Edinburgh and 13 Glasgow
• Mobile phone operator Vodafone announces plans to cut about 500 jobs in the UK, including 170 positions at its head office in Newbury
• The administrators of Stylo, which owns the Barratts and PriceLess chains of shoe shops, close 220 stores with the loss of 2,500 jobs. The remaining 160 stores and 165 concession outlets are sold to the former management, saving 3,000 jobs
• Two fashion and footwear firms owned by JJB Sports – OSC and Qube – is cutting 438 jobs . The redundancies stem from the closure of 37 of the 64 OSC stores and eight of the 13 Qube stores
• Engineering group GKN says it is cutting 564 jobs in the UK. The company says cuts will be made at its plants in Birmingham, Walsall and Telford, and at its aerospace division sites in Burnley and Luton
• Fast food chain KFC to create 9,000 new jobs over the next three to five years . It plans to open 300 new outlets over the period
• Royal Bank of Scotland says it will cut up to 2,300 jobs as part of a restructuring . The jobs will be lost from its back office operations across the UK
• Music, games and DVD chain Zavvi closes another 17 stores , taking the total closures to 72 and number of jobs lost to 1,068, since the company went into administration on Christmas Eve
• Holiday camp company Pontin’s is to redevelop its holiday centres, creating 2,000 new jobs
• US sandwich chain Subway creating 7,000 jobs across the UK and Ireland by the end of 2010, as it plans to open another 600 stores
• Asda to create 7,000 jobs across the UK this year
• Satellite broadcaster BSkyB to add 1,000 positions
• Steelmaker Corus says it is cutting 2,500 jobs in the UK, as part of cost savings that will see it shed 3,500 workers worldwide
• About 100 jobs to go at a print firm which has plants in Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire and Northamptonshire. St Ives said 70 staff had already been let go
• Barclays is cutting 4,200 jobs from its UK banking operation. Some 400 posts will go in its IT departments. The company said it hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies
• Marks and Spencer to close 25 Simply Food stores and two regular stores, losing 780 jobs, as well as cutting 450 head office posts
• Jaguar Land Rover to cut 300 managers and 150 salaried agency staff
• Adams childrenswear firm closes 111 stores, making 850 staff redundant
• Southeastern trains to make 300 people redundant over the coming year
• Housebuilder Bovis Homes announces 200 job cuts
• Music retailer Zavvi closes 22 stores, costing 180 staff their jobs
• Loan firm Cattles to lay off 350 staff at branches across the UK, as well as 650 call centre and support staff in Hull and Nottingham
• The Unite union said it was concerned that some of the 5,000 job cuts announced by Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson would go in the UK
• TT Electronics said that it was cutting 500 jobs in the UK
• Supermarket chain Tesco plans to create up to 10,000 new jobs with new store openings this year
• Sainsbury’s to create 5,000 new jobs this year, in 50 new convenience stores and a small number of new supermarkets
• Supermarket chain Waitrose to create 4,000 new jobs as part of an expansion drive
• Frozen food chain Iceland to create 2,500 jobs after buying 51 former Woolworths stores .