The UK Labour Market - April 2010
This section provides information and statistics about the labour market including features on the economy, pay trends and data on employment.
Table 1: Average Earnings
Regular pay growth increases in the year to February 2010
 Comparison of pay growth (including and excluding bonuses) |
Average Earnings Index
Average earnings growth including bonuses increased in the year to February 2010, from the January rate of 0.8 per cent to 2.3 per cent in February 2010. Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses (regular pay) also increased from the January 2010 rate of 1.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent in February 2010.
In the year to February pay growth (including bonuses) in the private sector stood at 1.8 per cent compared with 3.7 per cent in the public sector. Excluding bonus payments, growth in the private sector stood at 0.9 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent in the public sector.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate was 8.0 per cent for the three months to February 2010, up 0.1 per cent over the previous quarter and up 2.5 over the year. The number of unemployed people increased by 43,000 over the quarter to reach 2.5 million.
The claimant count, which measures the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, decreased by 32,900 between February and March 2010 to reach 1.54 million. The claimant count has fallen four out of the last five months.
Table 2: Unemployment
Unemployment rate rises to 8.0%
 |
Employment
The employment rate for people of working age was 72.1 per cent for the three months to February 2010, down 0.3 from the previous quarter and has not been lower since the three months to October 1996. The total number of people in employment for the three months to February 2010 was 28.82 million, down 89,000 over the quarter.
