Rise in part-time working due to fragile job market

The number of employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job increased by 44,000 for the three months to November 2011 to reach 1.31 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992, according to the latest Labour Market Statistics from the ONS (Office for National Statistics).

Commented Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD):

“The latest jobs data paint a mixed picture, with a smaller rise in unemployment than in the quarter to October (up 118,000), a slight increase in the number of people in work (up 18,000), little change in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and a small but nonetheless welcome fall in long-term unemployment (down 10,000 to 857,000).

“But the picture overall remains one of increasing fragility and the jobs situation is set to get much worse in 2012.

“The small rise in employment masks another sharp fall (down 109,000) in the number of employees. This is once again partially offset by a rise in self-employment (up 101,000), though as the CIPD noted earlier today this consists largely of part-time ‘odd jobbers’ and should be viewed as a sign of labour market weakness rather than strength.

“Moreover, employment overall increased only because there were more unpaid family workers and more people employed on government schemes. In total, full-time employment has fallen while part-time employment has increased.

“It now looks likely that the level of unemployment at the end of 2011 will have reached 2.7 million, which was the CIPD’s forecast this time last year. There is nothing in these latest jobs figures that makes us feel any more optimistic about our forecast for this year, which points to 2.85 million (8.8%) by the end of 2012.”

TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said:

“These figures are even worse than the bleak economic forecasts predicted, with new records achieved for youth and female unemployment."

The CBI was also concerned about the rise in youth unemployment. Said Dr Neil Bentley, CBI Deputy Director-General:

“These figures show that unemployment continues to be a major concern and is particularly worrying for young people.