For October to December 2012, compared with the previous three months, the number of people in employment increased and the number of people unemployed decreased. Fewer people claimed Jobseeker's Allowance in January 2013 than in December 2012.
The rise in the number of people in work was 154,000 comparing October to December 2012 to the previous three months. Overall there were 29.73 million people employed of which 73% were people working full-time and 27% people working part-time.
Unemployment was down 14,000 comparing October to December 2012 with the previous three months. The percentage of the labour force who were out of work, available for work and seeking a job (known as the unemployment rate) was 7.8%, down 0.1 percentage points on the previous three months.
Largest annual rise in full-time employment since 2005
The economic recession that started in 2008 had an impact on the number of people in work with employment falling as demand for goods and services fell in the economy. Focusing on the annual change in employment, between May to July 2008 and 2009 there was a 753,000 fall in the number of people working full-time and an increase of 77,000 for those working part-time.
More recently, the number of people working full time has been increasing. Between October to December 2011 and the same period in 2012, there was a 394,000 rise in the number of people working full-time which is the largest annual increase since 2005. There was also an increase of 190,000 in the number of people working part-time.
The more recent increases in full-time employment have not offset the falls that occurred through the downturn. For the most recent period in October to December 2012, full-time employment was 378,000 lower than in April to June 2008, the first quarter of the 2008/09 recession. Part-time employment was 572,000 higher comparing the same period.
Claimants down in January
The claimant count was down 12,500 to 1.54 million in January 2013 from December 2012. The claimant count measures the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and differs from unemployment as some people unemployed are not eligible for Jobseeker’s Allowance, for example, a full-time student who is looking for work may be unemployed but would not usually be eligible for the allowance.
Employment for everyone aged 16 and over was 29.73 million in October to December 2012, a rise of 154,000 compared with the previous three months.
Unemployment for everyone aged 16 and over was 2.50 million in October to December 2012, a fall of 14,000 on the previous three months.
In recent months full-time employment has been increasing and over the past year it has increased by 394,000, the largest annual rise in people working full-time since 2005.
