1.  Student Name : Sandeep Sohal
 Student Id : 27000439
 Tutor Name : Heather Vail
 Subject : Advanced Communication Skills

2. 2 UNEMPLOYMENT IN UK

3. 3 Introduction
 Unemployment is an economic indicator that refers to the
number or proportion of pe0ple in an economy who are
willing and able to work, but are unable to get a job; a
person in this situation is said to be unemployed. People
who are not willing or able to work, for whatever
reason, are “economically inactive” and do not count
towards unemployment figures
 High levels of unemployment are usually of a typical of a
struggling economy, where labour supply is outstripping
demand from employers. When economy has high
unemployment, it is not using its economic resources in
the best possible way

4. 4 Types of Unemployment
Economics distinguish a number of types of unemployment
• Cyclical unemployment is brought about by the vagaries of
the business cycle
• Structural unemployment is brought about by changes in
the economy or the labour market, when the jobs available
do not fit the workforce’s skills
• Frictional unemployment is the phenomenon of people
being “between jobs”
• Seasonal unemployment is linked to certain types of
seasonal jobs, such as farm work and construction

5. 5 History
 The history of unemployment in the UK is central to both the
economic and social history of the country.
 The 1950s and 1960s saw a very rate of unemployment (around 3 per
cent on average) as result of the ‘post war boom”. Serviceman during
the second world war had been promised full employment after
victory, and no government of the period was prepared to break this
pledge. Technological advance , a stable international trade
environment, the success of Keynesian economics and the stability of
the Phillips Curve (which postulated a relationship between high
inflation and high unemployment) created a situation which did
approach full employment – although of course, at the time the
majority of women remained in the category of the “ economically
inactive”.
 Unemployment continued to rise and official figures published in
October 2011 showed that for the June to August quarter, 2.57 million
people were unemployed – the highest since 1994.

6. 6 Background
 The trend of rising unemployment continued through the last
quarter of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, but there were
increasing signs of stabilisation in the labour market and by
March 2012, although unemployment showed a rise of 28,000
compared to the previous quarter, this was 5,000 below the
headline figure of the previous month.
 The figures published in April 2012 showed the continuing rise in
employment was coupled with a fall in unemployment of 35,000
on the quarter, to 2.65 million. This is dispute the fact there were
more people in the labour market, with a fall in inactivity of
25,000.
 Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, said that whilst any fall in
unemployment was very welcome , he remained “cautious” about
the next few months in light of the continuing economic
challenges.

7. 7 Controversies
 Throughout history , policy- makers have from time to time taken the
view that the macroeconomic benefits of high unemployment
outweigh its economic and social costs . This was the case during the
early 1980s. Most of that time, however, governments are unwilling to
permit high unemployment , due to demonstrated social effects, the
economic underperformance it reflects and the public cost in terms of
benefit payments it demands. Nevertheless, as an aggregate figure the “
headline” unemployment figure and rate can only tell part of the story.
Structural differences between the regions of the UK have often meant
that a nationwide figure masks considerably higher than in the
prosperous South East and London. Even within regions, there are
local pockets of high unemployment . Many towns remain dominated
by a small number of large employers: when a locally significant
business closes, such as the mines during the 1980s or Rover’s Long
bridge plant in Birmingham more recently, the effect can be
devastating

8. 8 Parties
 At present , there are two principal measures of
unemployment used by the Government :the
International Labour Organisation(ILO) measure ( the
UK’s version being known as the Labour force Survey
or LFS unemployment); and the Claimant Count . The
former is based on a survey of 57,000 households, and
classifies participants as employed, unemployed or
economically inactive on the basis of work done in the
previous work. The letter is based on the numbers
claiming unemployment related benefits.

9. 9 Causes
 Unemployment is cause by many factors in a modern
market economy. It can be caused by rapid technological
change, business cycle or recessions , seasonal factors in
some industries particularly such as changes n tastes and
climatic conditions which affects demand for certain
products and services, individual perceptions and
willingness to work and search for jobs, their values and
attitudes towards some jobs and about
employers, accessibility for retraining and acquisition of
work skills, willingness and perception of unemployed of
the benefits of training and the possibility for them to get a
job after the training even though they have a chance to get
a job, discrimination in the workplace based on race
, colour, religion, ethnicity, age and class

10. 10 Conflict causes
 Unemployment in a particular period can be
combination of caused by social factors and how the
economy as a whole works and also due to the
subjective individual factors. In a sociological point of
view according to functionalist and conflict theorists
the unemployment is caused primarily by the social
factors than by the individual factors. Individuals
construct their own social constructs and perception
and they can be subjective in their behavior and
therefore can become unemployed even though the
actual condition they can get a job in the job market.

11. 11 Recommendation
 This complete lack of common sense seems to stem from
overly rigid processes that presume everyone should
be, and will be, working in the same pattern. I suggest that
the real solution to this has to be people focused. Stop
tying up Jobcentre Plus staff and job seekers in reams of
paperwork. Free up staff to use their own common
sense, their own local knowledge of work and
, crucially, their own judgement in each individual case.
The country needs temps, and temping can be a fantastic
choice – be it a way to get back into work after children , or
after a period of unemployment. But , as it stands , we are
squandering the talents of part of our workforce because
bureaucracy does not allow for creativity or flexibility.

12. 12 References
 http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/unemployment
 http://bizcovering.com/business-and-society/causes-
of-unemployment/
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/1
1/unemployment-perspectives-peoples-panel
 E campus