Employment Figures I'm confused

[Websitehandyman]

Look guys and gals I'm just a fick brummie so most things are a mystery to me in life unless it's football. So excuse the question but I don't understand how these statement can be true.

1. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, from 7.8% in the previous quarter.
2.The number of people in work increased to 29.7 million. This is a record.


Because.


1. The UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the last three months of 2012
2. Manufacturing fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, the services sector was flat, but construction output rose by 0.3%. Within the manufacturing sector, mining and quarrying output fell by 10.2%, the biggest decline since records began in 1997.


What am I missing ? more people working less being produced, less being sold. Are people being employed to sit on the arse ?

 

[GraemeL]

What am I missing ?

Part time worker is classed the same as a full time worker.

Blues are in a bit of bother! (Father in Law big fan)

G

 

[Digbeth Court]

Unless I'm mistaken, the government's "unemployment figures" only relate to the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. So you can have a lot of people working part time hours or casual labour not factored into the equation.

(But I'm just a thick yam yam, so it's possible there are other things I haven't grasped about it all).

 

[Websitehandyman]

Forgot to add, when the last lot was in and forget about the rights and wrongs of their polices, the fact is the unemployment figures was half it is now. So why didn't we see the employed figure hit new records.

Could be that was due to moving a lot of people to sickness benifit. So is the rise in Unemployment in the last 3 years just been those moving back ?

But then that still means a lot of people have found jobs that contribute nothing.

 

[Deleted member 138423]

You can rest assured it's absolutely nothing to do with manipulated figures and those who are unemployed/able being on schemes where they look for work but are not in work.......

 

[Digbeth Court]

As a great man said, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Politics is nothing but spin from all parties; most governments will think nothing of shunting people from one type of benefit to another for short-term gain, or pushing folks into jobs that won't be sustainable in the long-term for the same reason.

 

[Moneyman]

a) The 0.3% in construction is probably bigger than the decrease in manufacturing...the manufacturing part has gone up quite a bit in the last year. companies slow down but dont necessarily sack people in proportion.

b) Give or take 1% on all the figures for any one period....we are bouncing along not going up or down..the rest is just weather and other factors.

c) a stoppage in oil production in scotland for a couple of weeks can knock the ?@* out of any figures (things are booming up here in aberdeen)

 

[anon154650]

A lot of it is manipulation of figures. My father was put out of his carpentry work a couple of years ago. As he was just over 60, unlikely to find work, but not yet of official retirement age, he was transferred from job-seekers-allowance to pension-credits. This means he longer has to look for work, as he's not classed as unemployed. If the DWP applies this method to all over-60s, the jobless figure will decrease when the employment figures remain static, or even fall. It is all smoke and mirrors.

I would like to see the ONS release more detailed figures on the number of unemployed teenagers (and whether they are studying), the number claiming JSA, the number claiming pension-credits, the number on disability, etc.. We might then have a better idea of how much mess the country is in. This is unlikely to happen as politicians will have to admit their ideas at fixing the country are not worth listening to!

 

[mhall]

But then that still means a lot of people have found jobs that contribute nothing.

starting with the Police commisioners?

 

[deniser]

2.The number of people in work increased to 29.7 million. This is a record.

This is because the population of the UK is rising rapidly.

https://www.google.co.uk/publicdata...l=en&hl=en&q=population of the united kingdom

 

[RedEvo]

(things are booming up here in aberdeen)

Sure are. Fancy grabbing a coffee to talk about that and if you think you could help commercialise some software we've written?

d

 

[Moneyman]

yup sure. get me on cb at amvc dot co dot uk

 

[Blood Lust]

Look guys and gals I'm just a fick brummie so most things are a mystery to me in life unless it's football. So excuse the question but I don't understand how these statement can be true.

1. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, from 7.8% in the previous quarter.
2.The number of people in work increased to 29.7 million. This is a record.

Because.

1. The UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the last three months of 2012
2. Manufacturing fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, the services sector was flat, but construction output rose by 0.3%. Within the manufacturing sector, mining and quarrying output fell by 10.2%, the biggest decline since records began in 1997.

What am I missing ? more people working less being produced, less being sold. Are people being employed to sit on the arse ?

Unemployment rose it didnt drop. The Government cooks the books by recording the following types of people as employed -
1. Jobseekers who are sanctioned.
2. Jobseekers being sent on training courses (they are sent on them at 6 and 12 months). This fiddles the figures for long-term unemployed.
3. Jobseekers on work placements (Youngsters etc).
4. Those not working and not claiming Incapacity Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance.

The real UK unemployment rates are nearer to 10 million. Theres a few more million trying to make ends meet doing part-time jobs too.

 

[telemax]

(things are booming up here in aberdeen)

I think a lot of it is down to where you live, things are booming around here in Oxford also but there a huge variety of industry sectors. It's hard to walk 20 paces without seeing a job ad in someone's window. I think areas that have become too dependent on one employer or one sector are suffering much more.