Updated July 2009

The employment rate and the number of people in employment have fallen. The number of vacancies has fallen. The number of unemployed people, the unemployment rate and the claimant count have all increased. The number of inactive people of working age and the inactivity rate have increased. Growth in average earnings, both excluding and including bonuses, has fallen.

The employment rate for people of working age was 72.5 per cent for the three months to July 2009. It has not been lower since the three months to February 1997 and it is down 0.8 from the previous quarter and down 2.1 over the year. The total number of people in employment for the three months to July 2009 was 28.89 million, down 217,000 over the quarter and down 600,000 over the year.

There were 31 million workforce jobs in June 2009, down 163,000 on the quarter and down 664,000 over the year. Most sectors showed falls in jobs over the quarter with the largest falls occurring in finance and business services (down 67,000) and construction (down 61,000).

The unemployment rate was 7.9 per cent for the three months to July 2009. It has not been higher since the three months to November 1996 and it is up 0.7 over the previous quarter and up 2.3 over the year. The number of unemployed people increased by 210,000 over the quarter and by 743,000 over the year, to reach 2.47 million.

The claimant count, which measures the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, reached 1.61 million in August 2009. It has not been higher since May 1997. While the total number of claimants increased by 24,400 over the previous month, the number of claimants of up to six months duration fell by 16,300.

The number of redundancies in the three months to July 2009 was 246,000, down 55,000 over the quarter but up 107,000 over the year.

There were 434,000 job vacancies in the three months to August 2009, down 12,000 over the previous quarter and down 174,000 over the year. Most sectors have shown small falls in vacancies over the quarter.

The inactivity rate for people of working age was 21.1 per cent for the three months to July 2009, up 0.2 both over the previous quarter and over the year. The number of economically inactive people of working age rose by 97,000 over the quarter and by 125,000 over the year to reach 7.99 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1971.

Average earnings, excluding bonuses, increased by 2.2 per cent in the three months to July 2009 compared with the previous year. This is the lowest annual growth rate since comparable records began in 2001. Average earnings, including bonuses, increased by 1.7 per cent in the three months to July 2009.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Notes:
People in employment, unemployed and economically inactive make up the total household population aged 16 and over, measured through the Labour Force Survey on a consistent basis since 1971.

Working age is defined as 16-64 for men and 16-59 for women.