Round-up of the week

The swelling of employment figures has meant a greater level of security for working people. 

Employment grows by 400,000 year on year

There are 400,000 more people in work across the UK than there were a year ago, giving more security to working people, new data published by the Department for Work and Pensions has shown. 

The figures show that there are as many as 750,000 new vacancies available in the UK at any given time at present. The report also states that 90 per cent of the increase in the last year can be attributed to full-time positions as the rate of unemployment plummeted by 198,000 people. 

In addition, real wages have increased by 2.9 per cent in just 12 months, marking the fastest rate of growth since 2002. 

Employment minister Priti Patel said: As part of our one nation government, we want everyone to succeed and achieve their full potential, and through our reforms we are doing just that. 

"With a record number of people working in the private sector and wages rising, it is clear that the remarkable jobs success that we have seen under this government is continuing."

ONS data shows 73.5% of people employed

Detailed data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the last three months shows that in the May to July period 73.5 per cent of Brits aged between 16 and 64 were in employment. 

It means there was little change from the three months that came before, but the ONS said it was a small increase from the reading 72.8 per cent a year ago. 

The unemployment rate has also fallen in the last year, down from 6.2 per cent in July 2014 to 5.5 per cent for the same month this year. 

BCC hails fall in youth unemployment

The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has hailed the fall in the number of people nationwide who were unemployed as of the end of July this year. 

Speaking of the fact that youth unemployment dropped from 16.1 per cent in April to 15.6 per cent as of the end of July, David Kern, chief economist at the BCC said: "Employment increased and the fall in the youth unemployment rate is also welcome news, although it remains considerably higher than the national average."

He also went on to say that the BCC is pleased to see that the data from the ONS shows that the job market's recovery is progressing at what it called a "satisfactory pace". 

“Overall, the figures confirm our assessment that the UK recovery is progressing at a satisfactory pace, but the rise in unemployment also indicates that our recovery is still fragile and significant risks will persist in view of the uncertain international situation."

KPMG: skills gap harming growth of staff appointments

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs shows that in August, the rate of growth in staff appointments hit a 27-year low, with authors blaming a skills gap for this poor performance. 

KPMG said that the skills gap widened in August, as the availability for candidates fell again during the month. The report states that it marked the steepest fall with regards to this metric for more than a year, while temporary/contract staff availability was also down, with the latest drop the most marked in ten months.

The report also looked at various sectors and found that there were some real variations across the board. The strongest industry in terms of permanent staff was nursing, medical and care, while the slowest rate of expansion in demand - although still solid - was seen in hotels and catering.