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Tag: employment figures

Good news in the employment figures, but the future for construction jobs remains uncertain

Good news in the employment figures, but the future for construction jobs remains uncertain

The latest employment data will provide economists, politicians and strategists with plenty to chew on. The headline figure for unemployment jumped by 43,000 to top 2.5 million for the first time since 1996, the number of people in employment fell by 89,000 and the number wanting a job rose again. But there are certainly positive signs. The claimant count is down by 32,900 and the actual number of hours worked is on the rise. And one figure that probably won’t…

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Half a million construction jobs to go – it looks like a dead cert

Half a million construction jobs to go – it looks like a dead cert

Construction has now lost 213,000 jobs since the recession started to kick in the autumn of 2008, according to the latest figures. That is about 10% of the workforce. That sounds like a lot and it is. But given the severity of the fall in construction workload to date it is less than you might have imagined. So far we have seen construction output fall by more than 13.4% since the peak at the second quarter of 2008. Meanwhile the…

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Is an inaccurate measure of foreign workers messing up the construction data?

Is an inaccurate measure of foreign workers messing up the construction data?

Here’s a couple of graphs for stat-spotters I thought worth placing together. For some while there has been unease about both the workforce jobs figures and the repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) sector figures in the official construction output statistics. The two sets of data are linked and there’s been some concern that an under recording of foreign workers was impacting on the workforce jobs figures and in turn on the RMI data, as Labour Force Survey data is used in estimating…

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We’ll be getting off relatively lightly if the construction workforce drops by 400,000

We’ll be getting off relatively lightly if the construction workforce drops by 400,000

The latest forecast from the Construction Skills Network (CSN) suggests that the current recession in construction will have led to a drop of about 400,000 in the number employed by the industry once job shedding ends in early 2011. This would mean a drop of about 15% in the workforce. That appears at first sight pretty savage. But set against the previous recession this would be getting off relatively lightly, with a shorter and less severe period of job cutting.

Mum: Are we out of recession yet?

Mum: Are we out of recession yet?

You could feel the uneasiness among economists yesterday when the release of official statistics showed that the UK had just scraped enough oomph together in the final quarter of last year to stage a lacklustre return to growth. Most economists had expected the no-growth bar to be cleared by some margin. Instead the preliminary estimate figure posted at 0.1% growth leaves open the possibility that further revisions could show the UK still in recession. Unlikely, but not an outlandish possibility. Even…

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More than 100,000 construction workers made redundant last year

More than 100,000 construction workers made redundant last year

The latest employment figures provide yet more grim reading for those in construction with the numbers made redundant in the final quarter of last year rocketing to 48,000. The official figures out today show that 109,000 construction employees were made redundant over the year. Some will have got new jobs, but the claimant count figures suggest that many have not. The redundancy figures also underplay the carnage in the construction jobs market as so many of those engaged in the…

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