Unemployment rate hits lowest level for 47 years

The unemployment rate was 4.7% in the 3 months to February 2017, down from 5.1% a year earlier; it has not been lower since June to August 1975, recent data released by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) has been able to suggest.

The number of vacancies increased by 2.1% between the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 to 767,000, the highest level on record. This strong demand for labour is translating into a shift from part-time to full-time employment, and an increase in the average hours worked per week by both full time and part-time employees.

Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between September to November 2016 and the three months to February 2017, the number of people in work increased, the number of unemployed people fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) also fell.

There were 31.84 million people in work, 39,000 more than for September to November 2016 and 312,000 more than for a year earlier.

In spite of these employment records, real earnings growth coming virtually to a halt at just 0.1% for the three months to February.

Gerwyn Davies, Labour Market Analyst at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said these figures need to be viewed in line with year on year living standards, slower earnings growth and rising inflation, warning:
“The latest jobs data suggests that employment and wage growth are running out of steam. Year on year living standards fell in February for the first time since 2014, due to the slower earnings growth and rising inflation we’ve seen during the past six months. It seems highly likely that the annual rate of wage growth will fall in the coming months with inflation predicted to continue to rise during 2017.

“This is perhaps no surprise given the UK’s ongoing productivity crisis, which limits the ability of employers to increase pay. At the same time, low pay growth may also be a sign that employers are seeking to offset the impact of increasing labour costs, such as last week’s Apprenticeship Levy and the latest National Living Wage increase.

Time and Attendance Systems from Time and Attendance UK – the personnel management systems of choice for mitigating changes within the workforce

Every company facing significant challenges and changes in its organizational structure should first and foremost implement a very solid and reliable workforce management system, capable of coping with the challenges of adding and removing so many employees from the firm’s ranks.

Time & Attendance UK is a market leader in Time and Attendance and Access Control solutions, offering companies an extensive set of tools enabling them to manage their workforces in a very effective manner.

Our top-range smart card-based clocking stations offer a very high level of functionality, supporting features such as job booking, job costing, labour hours analysis and security management including quality CCTV surveillance playback.

If you would like to find out more about the workforce management systems from Time and Attendance UK, just contact us, we would be more than happy to answer all your questions and queries.