Job figures refute recession

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, there were 2.9 million employee jobs in the manufacturing industries in the three months to February 2008, down 27,000 on the same period a year earlier. Over the same period, manufacturing productivity rose by 3.0 per cent. Across the economy this month's labour market figures show an increase in both the number of people in employment and the employment rate. The number of unemployed people, the unemployment rate and the claimant count have all fallen and the number of job vacancies has increased. The working age employment rate was 74.9 per cent and the number of people in employment increased by 152,000 over the quarter. The unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent with the number of unemployed people falling by 39,000 over the quarter. The number of people in full-time employment was 21.95 million in the three months to February 2008, up 99,000 from the three months to November 2007. Of this total, 14.11 million were men, up 30,000 over the quarter, and 7.84 million were women, up 69,000 over the quarter. Most sectors showed increases in jobs over the year with finance and business services jobs leading the way, increasing by 149,000. Commenting on yesterday’s statistics, Ian Brinkley, economist at The Work Foundation, said: “Despite the jittery atmosphere about the economic outlook at the moment, the labour market still looks very solid. Employment growth across the private sector has been strong and unemployment has fallen. “The only real signs of the credit crunch are much weaker City bonuses this year and a slight fall in employment in business services – a key UK strength - at the end of last year. “These are of course backward looking numbers – they tell us what was happening between December and February, not what might be happening now. “We can expect worse news to come, but as far as the labour market is concerned there is nothing to suggest we are on the verge of a recession.’