UK unemployment fell by a further 57,000 in the three months to May. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this means that there are currently 2.51 million workers without a job, with the unemployment rate remaining stable at 7.8 per cent.
Furthermore, this has had a positive effect upon the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. This total fell by 21,200 to only 1.48 million – the steepest drop in three years.
Overall, this means that unemployment has fallen by 72,000 in the past year: a statistic which Mark Hoban, the Employment Minister, calls “encouraging.”
He continues; “The fall in the number of people claiming out of work benefits, together with the news that there are currently over half a million vacancies available in the UK economy, show that there are opportunities out there for those who are prepared to work hard, and who aspire to get on in life.”
Unfortunately, though, this good news does little to mask one of the true crises remaining in the field of employment. In the past quarter, the number of people classed as “long-term jobless” rose yet again.
Those who have been out of work for more than a year increased to around 915,000 while just over 460,000 people in the UK have not held a secure job in over two years. These figures are now the highest they have been since 1996 and 1997 respectively, indicating that more must be done to reintroduce the long-term unemployed to the workplace.
Unison union’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, agrees with this statement, saying; “Small relief in the unemployment figures will be no comfort to those struggling with the misery of long-term unemployment.
“Every job loss is a personal tragedy and the government has to do more to tackle the persistent job crisis.”
With business confidence remaining high and signs of life returning to Britain’s ailing high streets, families are undoubtedly in a better place than at this point last year. However, with long-term unemployment consistently rising, there is a chance that this figure alone could topple the stability that British businesses have been striving for since the recession bit in 2008.
How you think the government could be doing more to help those categorised as “long-term unemployed” – is it a matter of implementing more work experience courses or does the fact that there are 2.5 million unemployed and only 500,000 vacancies mean there is little hope of these people finding employment?
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