There has been a fall in both the number of people in employment and the employment rate. 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. The number of vacancies has fallen. Growth in average earnings, both including and excluding bonuses, is unchanged.
The employment rate for people of working age was 74.2 per cent for the three months to October 2008, down 0.4 both from the previous quarter and over the year. The last time the rate was lower was in the three months to February 2000 (when it was 74.1 percent). The number of people in employment for the three months to October 2008 was 29.38 million, down 115,000 over the quarter but up 57,000 over the year. The number of jobs in September 2008 was 31.53 million, down 134,000 over the quarter and down 71,000 over the year. This is the biggest quarterly fall in jobs since December 1992.
The unemployment rate was 6.0 per cent for the three months to October 2008, up 0.4 over the previous quarter and up 0.7 over the year. The last time the rate was higher was in the three months to May 1999 (when it was 6.1 per cent). The number of unemployed people increased by 137,000 over the quarter and by 238,000 over the year, to reach 1.86 million (the highest figure since the three months to December 1997).
The claimant count was 1.07 million in November 2008 (the highest figure since July 2000). It is up 75,700 over the previous month and up 257,500 over the year.
The redundancy level for the three months to October 2008 was 180,000, up 41,000 over the quarter and up 49,000 over the year.
The inactivity rate for people of working age was 20.9 per cent for the three months to October 2008, up 0.1 over the previous quarter but down 0.2 over the year. The number of economically inactive people of working age increased by 39,000 over the quarter but fell by 33,000 over the year to reach 7.90 million.
The annual rate of growth in average earnings excluding bonuses was 3.6 per cent in the three months to October 2008, unchanged from the three months to September. Including bonuses, it was 3.3 per cent, unchanged from the three months to September.
There were 562,000 job vacancies in the three months to November 2008, down 49,000 over the previous quarter and down 118,000 over the year. This is the lowest figure since comparable records began in 2001.
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.
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Labour Market Statistics First Release