Blog
Fewer out of work but the labour force is shrinking
17th February 2010
We are perhaps towards the crest of the rise in unemployment, but there are still too many uncertainties about the economy to be confident that the peak in unemployment is within reach. And long term unemployment lags an economic recovery - the number of people out of work for at least a year has climbed to the highest level since Labour came into power in 1997. The number of people unemployed for more than 12 months rose 37,000 to 663,000. A shift back towards staying in higher education may also explain why the number of people classed as economically inactive rose 72,000 on the quarter to 8.08m, the highest since records began in 1971.
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.