Real jobless toll has hit 6.3 million - TUC

12:43pm UK, Tuesday February 14, 2012
The true scale of unemployment in the UK could be as high as 6.3 million if a different counting measure was used, according to a new study.

The official jobless total increased to 2.68 million last month and is expected to rise again when new figures are published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.

But the TUC said that under the American measure, which includes people in part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time work and recent redundancies, it would be more than twice the official total.

At 6.3 million, unemployment would be higher than at any point since the early 1990s.

Under-employment, which counts those doing temporary or part-time jobs because they cannot find permanent, full-time work, has risen to a record 1.9 million, according to the research.

The TUC said temporary jobs were better than unemployment, but added that they tended to be low paid, insecure and offer little or no career prospects.

The group of union leaders called on the Government to acknowledge the scale of the jobs "crisis" rather than repeat the "ill-informed" claim that there were plenty of jobs available.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The headline unemployment figures are bad enough, but the true scale of joblessness is even worse.

"Our jobs crisis is not confined to those out of work. Nearly two million people are being forced to take low-paid, insecure, short hours jobs because of the lack of proper full-time employment. This means people are taking home much less pay, which is putting a real strain on family budgets.

"Unless we get people back into decent jobs and wages growing in line with prices again, we will not secure a sustainable economic recovery nor get the deficit down."

The report followed a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which showed that job prospects are set to worsen in the coming months as firms make workers redundant.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also gave further details about the Youth Contract on Monday, the Government's push to get more 18 to 24-year-olds into work.

But this week's figures are expected to show the eighth consecutive month of rising unemployment.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said it has been three years since unemployment broke through the two million mark.

There are 600,000 more people working part-time who say they want to work full-time, compared to three years ago, according to the think-tank.

Graeme Cooke, IPPR's associate director, called on the Government to guarantee everyone who has been unemployed for more than a year a job at the minimum wage in local government or the voluntary sector.

However, he added: "But with that right should come the responsibility to take that job or risk losing their benefits."

Mr Cooke said: "The longer someone is unemployed, the less likely they are to ever return to work.

"Being out of work for more than a year can have a scarring effect, making it harder to get a job as well as having a negative impact on one's health and well-being.

"This means that even when employment starts to pick up again, they will find it hard to compete with other jobseekers and could find themselves permanently shut out of the jobs market."

A spokeswoman from the Department for Work and Pensions said: "Tackling unemployment is a priority for ministers, which was why the Government acted quickly to replace the numerous failing back to work schemes with the Work Programme.

"It is the biggest single payment by results employment programme Great Britain has ever seen, with hundreds of organisations involved."

But shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said the TUC's analysis showed the "true scale of our country's unemployment emergency".

He added: "Unless ministers act soon a whole generation will be scarred by long term unemployment."

http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16169537

I still recon its nearer 8 million if you include all those who should be available for work.

Lioned wrote:I still recon its nearer 8 million if you include all those who should be available for work.

I think it could be around that, Lioned. I'm seeing more and more people in my area signing up with agencies, doing temporary work.

6:15am UK, Wednesday February 15, 2012



Isabel Webster, West of England correspondent





New figures due out from the Office for National Statistics
are expected to show an increase in unemployment for the eighth month in
a row.



The Institute for Public Policy Research said it was three years since unemployment broke through the two million mark.


Their analysis shows that unemployment has gone up by a million since the recession began.


Overall, 857,000 people have been unemployed for more than a year.


More than a million young people, aged between 16 and 24, are now
jobless - the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992 and a
rise of 51,000 from the last quarter.

It's obviously been a depressing time. For people
working here there is a real period of uncertainty about their jobs and
also for the future as well.

Ben Rapier, Newport Passport Office










Unemployment among women has also reached the highest point in 23 years.


A recent survey by research group Centre for Cities
showed that areas with smaller numbers of knowledge workers, lower
qualifications and a reliance on public sector employment will be the
most vulnerable to rises in unemployment in 2012.


It highlighted Newport, Swansea, Doncaster, Hull and Sunderland as likely to struggle the most.


Dr Jonathan Deacon, of the University of Wales, said: "The future for cities like Newport is not looking particularly good.


"We're very vulnerable and not resilient to change. We have the
legacy of industrialisation that's kind of gone and a heavy reliance on
the public sector, which is coming under pressure like it’s never done
before, and it ain't going to get any better."


Ben Rapier, who works at the Newport Passport Office, says the decline of the public sector in the city has been hard.


"We're going from a workforce of 290 to 138," he said.


"It's obviously been a depressing time. For people working here there
is a real period of uncertainty about their jobs and also for the
future as well."


Although the coalition has had some cause for celebration this week
with inflation falling and one forecast saying Britain should avoid a
double dip, the latest figures are expected to show unemployment
continued to grow in December after hitting 2.68m in November.

I just don't believe those figures and whoever is putting them out must be relying on lack of numeracy skills amongst the general population.

The Institute for Public Policy Research said it was three years since unemployment broke through the two million mark.

However, over a million young people are out of work. So, that leaves under a million for everyone else, which is a fairy tale.

I just saw the youth unemployment figures around Europe and the British figure is 22%.

Interestingly Kevin McLoughlin Decorators has set up a school for Apprentices . He says he doesn't want a situation where when the economy improves
he can only employ "cowboy" decorators. Remember the days of Apprentices, learning their Trade with big firms? Wouldn't it be a good idea if the
Government paid employers to train youngsters NOW.?