National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage
50
Figure 2.16: Annual Change in Employee Jobs, by Sector, GB, 2007-2011
Change in number of employee jobs on a year
earlier (per cent)
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
2007 September
2007 December
2008 March
2008 June
2008 September
2008 December
2009 March
2009 June
2009 September
Month
Low-paying sectors
2009 December
2010 March
2010 June
2010 September
Whole economy
Source: LPC estimates based on ONS employee jobs series, three-monthly, not seasonally adjusted, GB, 2006-2011.
2.76 The aggregate number of jobs has increased since the introduction of the minimum wage in
all the individual low-paying sectors except those in the international trading sectors (food
processing, agriculture and the manufacture of textiles and clothing). Employment in these
latter sectors had been in long-term decline well before 1999. The growth in jobs has been
strongest in hospitality; leisure, travel and sport; and cleaning. Over the last year, Table 2.8
shows that there has been an increase in low-paying jobs (up 0.7 per cent) while jobs in the
whole economy continued to fall (down 0.3 per cent). Low-paying sector growth was
strongest in hospitality, without which the low-paying sectors would have seen a decline of
0.3 per cent in line with the whole economy.
2.77 Table 2.8 also shows that over the past year the growth in employee jobs in low-paying
industries has been driven by those sectors that are predominantly dependent on spending
from businesses and consumers. Social care, which is to a large extent reliant on government
spending, has seen strong growth since September 1998 (up 17.9 per cent) but has
experienced a reduction in jobs since September 2010 (down 5.4 per cent).
2010 December
2011 March
2011 June
2011 September
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5