The latest ONS data shows the employment rate at 75.0%, down slightly compared with April to June 2017 but up from 74.4% for a year earlier. The data available covers the period between April to June 2017 and July to September 2017.
The figures show that the number of people in work fell slightly, the number of unemployed people also fell, and the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) increased.
We take a look at the headlines and the youth unemployment figures in more detail:
- There were 32.06 million people in work, 14,000 fewer than for April to June 2017 but 279,000 more than for a year earlier.
- The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 75.0%, down slightly compared with April to June 2017 but up from 74.4% for a year earlier.
- There were 1.42 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 59,000 fewer than for April to June 2017 and 182,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
- The unemployment rate (the proportion of those in work plus those unemployed, that were unemployed) was 4.3%, down from 4.8% for a year earlier and the joint lowest since 1975.
- There were 8.88 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), 117,000 more than for April to June 2017 but 20,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
- The inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive) was 21.6%, higher than for April to June 2017 (21.3%) but down slightly from a year earlier.
Youth Employment Figures
Within this data set young people are defined as those aged 16 – 24. Young people in full-time education are included in the employment estimates if they have a part-time job and are included in the unemployment estimates if they are are seeking part-time work.
For July to September 2017, for people aged from 16 to 24, there were:
- 3.82 million people in work (including 852,000 full-time students with part-time jobs)
- 517,000 unemployed people (including 177,000 full-time students looking for part-time work)
- 2.75 million economically inactive people, most of whom (2.11 million) were full-time students
For July to September 2017, the unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 11.9%, lower than for a year earlier (13.1%).
The unemployment rate for those aged from 16 to 24 has been consistently higher than that for older age groups. Since comparable records began in 1992:
- the lowest youth unemployment rate was 11.6% for March to May 2001
- the highest youth unemployment rate was 22.5% for late 2011
Unemployment
Data from the Learning and Work Institute shows that:
- Unemployment is 1,425,000, has fallen by 18,000 from last month’s published figure (quarterly headline decreased by 59,000) and the unemployment rate is 4.3%, no change on last month and down 0.2 percentage points on last quarter
- The number of claimant unemployed is 806,100, up 1,100 on last month, and the claimant rate is 2.3%
- The number of workless young people (not in employment, full-time education or training) is 981,000, up 23,000 on the quarter, representing 13.8% of the youth population (up 0.4 percentage points).
- Youth unemployment (including students) is 517,000, down 28,000 on the quarter
- There are 1.8 unemployed people per vacancy. Learning and Work Institute estimates this figure may rise next month.
What does this mean for young people?
The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds has seen little movement in the last year and still remains disproportionately higher than any other group of people.
Youth unemployment is showing a quarterly fall. There are still 524,000 unemployed young people, and 343,000 (4.8% of the youth population) who are unemployed and not in full-time education.
The proportion of unemployed young people (not counting students) who are not claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and therefore are not receiving official help with job search is now 52%.
We appreciate the challenges that come with recording and reporting the data and some of the hidden figures and numbers of young people that go unrecorded in figures. The recent Youth Jobs Index from Impetus PEF raises many concerns you can read the full report here.
