What Labour won't tell you about the Employment statistics

Key statistics

·         Employment: 31.21 million (up 419,000 over the past year and up over 2.1 million since 2010).

·         Employment rate: 73.7 per cent (up 0.7 points over the past year and up 3.5 points since 2010).

·         Unemployment: 1.75 million (down 210,000 over the past year and down 760,000 since 2010).

·         Unemployment rate: 5.3 per cent (down 0.7 points over the past year and down 2.6 points since 2010).

·         Claimant count (Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit not in work): 795,500 in October (down 139,100 on last year and down 699,300 since 2010).

·         Wages: average total pay rose by three per cent over the last year. Inflation over the same period was close to flat.

·         The employment rate is at the highest in our history - at 73.7 per cent of people aged 16-64.

·         Unemployment has fallen to a seven year low – at 5.3 per cent

·         There are more women in work than ever before with 975,000 more women in work since 2010, and the number of unemployed women down by 80,000 over the year.

·         Youth unemployment is at its lowest level since early 2006, and the employment rate for young people who have left full-time education is up to 74.3 per cent, the highest in more than a decade

·         Among older people (50-64), employment is up 72,000 on the quarter and 234,000 on the year to a record 8.3 million.

·         The number of long-term unemployed people has fallen by 25 per cent in the last year to 514,000 – the lowest level in six years.

·         Vacancies were at 736,000 in the three months to October, up 37,000 on the year and 274,000 since 2010.

Labour always try and tell Britain that all these jobs are part-time, insecure and poorly paid – in fact:

·         Three-quarters of the growth in employment since 2010 has been full-time.

·         Only 2.4 per cent of people in work are on zero-hours contracts. Unlike the last Labour Government, who did nothing, we have taken action to clamp down on abuses by banning exclusivity contracts.

·         Real wages are rising strongly. 

It was Labour that left people with fewer jobs and fewer opportunities:

·         The number of unemployed people increased by one million in Labour’s last term in office.

·         The number of people on unemployment benefit rose by 82 per cent in Labour’s last term.

·         Youth unemployment rose by 45 per cent under Labour – meaning young people were not getting the skills they need to get on in life.

·         The number of households where no member had ever worked nearly doubled under Labour.