February Labour Market Statistics: comment from the Institute for Employment Studies
13 Feb 2024
Commenting on today's figures, Tony Wilson, Director at the Institute for Employment Studies said:
"Today sees the first full publication of revised jobs data following revisions made to how Labour Force Survey responses are weighted. These show that things are a bit worse in the labour market than we had thought until a few weeks ago, with fewer people in work and more out of work than we had previously thought.
"Most worryingly though, they also show that things have a got bit worse than we thought since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the number out of work has risen by nearly seven hundred thousand, with at least two thirds of this due to more people out of work due to long-term health conditions. This rise in worklessness has happened despite still over nine hundred thousand vacancies in the economy and rising salaries. It reiterates the need for us to do far more to help people out of work to get into work, more to help people struggling in work to stay, and more to help employers fill their jobs. Otherwise weaknesses in our labour market will continue to hold back economic growth and widen social and economic inequalities."
Read our detailed briefing note here