National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage
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Table 1.5: Change in Employment and Unemployment, UK, 2007-2011
September 2007-
September 2008
September 2008-
September 2009
September 2009-
September 2010
September 2010-
September 2011
000s % 000s % 000s % 000s %
Workforce jobs 76 0.2 -674 -2.1 -159 -0.5 89 0.3
Employee jobs 136 0.5 -780 -2.8 -271 -1.0 -69 -0.3
Employment 124 0.4 -519 -1.8 311 1.1 -109 -0.4
Employees 152 0.6 -568 -2.2 95 0.4 -130 -0.5
Hours worked 1,100 0.1 -29,700 -3.2 12,000 1.3 -7,400 -0.8
ILO unemployment 179 10.9 625 34.4 -11 -0.5 165 6.8
Claimant count 124 14.7 648 66.9 -149 -9.2 125 8.5
Vacancies -70 -10.4 -177 -29.3 30 7.0 7 1.5
Redundancies 27 21.1 50 32.3 -59 -28.8 1 0.7
Source: LPC estimates based on ONS data, workforce jobs (DYDC) and employee jobs (BCAJ), quarterly; total employment (MGRZ),
employees (MGRN), total weekly hours (YBUS), ILO unemployment (LF2I), claimant count unemployment (BCJD), vacancies (AP2Y) and
redundancies (BEAO), monthly, seasonally adjusted, UK, 2007-2011.
1.35 Vacancies and redundancies also show that the labour market has been weaker in 2011 than
in 2010. In September 2009 vacancies were about 250,000 lower than in September 2007,
but picked up in 2010 as the economy began recovering from the recession. The recovery in
vacancies has weakened and vacancies in September 2011 were still over 200,000 below
their pre-recession levels. In the depths of the recession, redundancies were 77,000 higher in
the quarter to September 2009 than in the quarter to September 2007. They then fell back
over the year to September 2010 by 59,000 as the economy started recovering, but this
recovery stalled in 2011. The level of redundancies was more or less unchanged between
September 2010 and September 2011.
1.36 The labour market remained relatively resilient in 2011. Although output fell by over 7 per
cent during the recession, Figure 1.6 shows that employment only fell by 2.5 per cent.
Many had argued that this was due to workers showing greater flexibility by reducing hours,
working shorter weeks, and taking unpaid sabbaticals. Hours fell by more than employment,
suggesting that this may have been a factor, but they fell by 4.5 per cent at most. In the
recessions of the 1980s and 1990s, the falls in employment and hours were much greater.
In both of those recessions employment fell by over 6 per cent and hours by up to 10 per
cent. This suggests that the relationship between employment and hours was similar in the
three recessions. However, the fall in output was much greater in 2008-2009 than in either of
those previous recessions.