Labour market overview: December 2019

Below you will find the latest labour market statistics for December, the data in this piece is taken from the ONS report.

Headlines for August To October 2019

• the estimated UK unemployment rate for all people was 3.8%, 0.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier but largely unchanged on the previous quarter
• the estimated UK unemployment rate for men was 4.0%, 0.2 percentage points lower than a year earlier but largely unchanged on the previous quarter
• the estimated UK unemployment rate for women was a record low of 3.5%, down 0.4 percentage points on the year and down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter

Youth unemployment 16 – 24 year olds

• The Youth Unemployment rate is 11.2%, down by 0.7% from the previous quarter and down by 0.2% from last year’s figure
• The UK Youth Employment rate is 54.5%, up by 0.7% from the previous quarter and down by 0.9% from last year’s figure

Our view

The youth unemployment rate has decreased slightly having gradually risen since the data covering Feb – Apr 2019 was released. Whilst we are pleased to see number increasing, albeit slightly, we remain concerned that the unemployment rates for young people remain higher than that for any other age group. We are still hearing from young people that they are facing many barriers to entering work. Our Youth Employment Manifesto covers many of the big issues young people are facing, we remain committed to eradicating youth employment and working with all stakeholders to drive real change.