Press Release
Unexpectedly good numbers, but tough times ahead
23 January 2013
Commenting on today’s labour market statistics, Charles Levy, senior economist at The Work Foundation, said:
“Today’s data shows that by the end of 2012 the labour market was performing better than many had expected.
“If we compare statistics from September to November with figures from the last three months, employment increased by 90,000, taking the total number of new jobs created in the previous 12 months to 550,000. Unemployment also eased by 37,000 in the last three months, and fell by 185,000 over the year. Encouragingly, the numbers show our economy creating full-time employment, which increased by 82,000 in three months. This reverses the switch to self-employment and part-time work seen throughout the recession.
“However, there are reasons to think that this recovery may not last. Despite the stellar performance of the labour market, 2012 saw very little economic growth. The signs are that at the end of the year our economy may have been contracting. The poor performance of the retail sector in the run up to Christmas and the closure of a number of retail chains in the past few weeks are also likely to compound the situation. In these conditions, it is very hard to imagine how the labour market can continue to improve at this pace.”
Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.
As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.