Encouraging job figures provide hope for UK economy

13th December 2012

In the three months to October 2012, unemployment fell by 82,000, and employment rose by 40,000 Youth unemployment fell 72,000 In the third quarter, the number of people employed in the private sector rose 65,000, while public sector employment fell 24,000 Commenting on the labour market statistics, published today by the ONS, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: -Once again, we are seeing encouraging labour market figures, with unemployment down and employment up.

Today's figures overall are positive and support our assessment that the UK economy will grow over the next year, albeit at a modest pace. -There are some areas of concern in the figures: the number of economically inactive people that have left the workforce has increased by 60,000 in the three months to October; the rate of youth unemployment remains above 20%; and long-term unemployment is still too high. However these issues should not detract from the positive nature of this month's figures. -The further increase in private sector employment supports our view that British businesses are able and willing to drive recovery at a time when the public sector will inevitably continue to shrink. Although we support the government's deficit reduction plan, it will cause further job losses in the public sector and an effective growth strategy must be implemented to enable the private sector to absorb those people seeking jobs, or else unemployment will rise. This requires further deregulation, increased infrastructure spending, and the early creation of a business bank that improves access to finance.