A quick look at the headline figures and some other interesting charts about the UK labour market. Data released today: 11th June 2014 @statshan on twitter, Teaching with Statistics on Facebook and statshan on the TES website.

1. THE UK LABOUR MARKET
JUNE 2014
These slides reflect the opinions of the author and
not the official position of the ONS

2. “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?

3. 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

4. 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

5. 780
457
337
22
-37
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Total Employees Self employed Unpaid family
workers
Government
supported training
& employment
programmes
Thousands
A 457,000 increase
In the number
of employees
A 337,000 increase
in the number of
self-employed people
Employment: Annual Changes

6. Lowest for five years,
not seen this level or rate since 2009
UK Unemployment: February - April 2014

7. Lowest number of claimants
since 2008
Claimant Count: May 2014

8. -4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
Jan-
Mar
2009
Jan-
Mar
2010
Jan-
Mar
2011
Jan-
Mar
2012
Jan-
Mar
2013
Jan-
Mar
2014
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

9. 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 bonuses
unusually high:
last year an unusual
amount of businesses
paid bonuses
In 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

10. 15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Mar
2009
Mar
2010
Mar
2011
Mar
2012
Mar
2013
Mar
2014
%
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

11. 45
117
190
149
96
862
1082
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
 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