Manufacturing jobs continue to vanish

Across the wider economy, the employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for the three months to August 2010 was 70.7%, up 0.2 on the quarter. The number of people in employment aged 16 and over increased by 178,000 on the quarter to reach 29.16 million. Employment is up 241,000 on the year but is 270,000 lower than two years previously. The number of men in employment increased by 132,000 on the quarter, to reach 15.62 million, while the number of women in employment increased by 46,000 on the quarter to reach 13.54 million. The quarterly increase in total employment was mainly driven by part-time workers, which increased by 143,000 on the quarter to reach 7.96 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992. There were 1.14 million employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job. This is the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992 and is up 65,000 on the quarter. The number of full-time workers increased by 35,000 on the quarter to reach 21.20 million. Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said that although the headline employment and unemployment figures may still look healthy, they included the tail end of the improvement in demand for labour witnessed in the spring and summer. He went on: "Forward looking business surveys of employers' hiring intentions indicate that this improvement was temporary and that conditions in the labour market are weakening, an emerging trend highlighted in today's official figures showing a further rise in the number of people unemployed and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and a sharp drop in the number of job vacancies."