unemployment

Yesterday's announcement of the monthly unemployment figures caused great confusion. The Labour Force Survey count (to December) showed a small decline (down by 3,000) But the JSA figures (for the month to mid January) showed quite a marked rise - up by 23,500. Why the difference?

Updated 17/12 - DWP published their White Paper on Tuesday, aimed at 'Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment'. I've had a good read through, and would defnitely recommend reading the summary which is here, as it really is full of content. The summary below is made up of useful excerpts I've picked out from the White Paper, including a bit of background to set out what the Bill is being based on.

Overall, there are a lot of reforms set out here, including more information on skills accounts, 'better off in work' credit, and additional plans to tackle youth unemployment. There is also a lot in there for working families, lone parents, carers, and people with disabilities. This White Paper is by no means a short-term plan to fend off the recession, but outlines reform in all key areas - more powers to Jobcentre Plus staff, Housing Benefit reform, a review of Pathways to Work, and an aim to work back up towards full employment.

There's a new documentary series starting on Channel 4 on Thursday 20th August called Benefit Busters. It seems to focus on the experience of ground level welfare to work delivery, filmed in co-operation with providers, which makes a change to some of the stories of recent months. Here's a link with more information, and the blurb follows.

From the New York Times:

Over the coming months, as many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits, ending what for some has been a last bulwark against foreclosures and destitution.

The June labour market figures were released this morning. The headline figures are:

• Working age employment was 72.9% in the three months to May 2009, down from 74.9% employment a year ago
• Unemployment is now 2.38m in three months to May, or 7.6% of the working age population, up from 5.2% a year ago
• Claimant count in June 2009 was 1.56m or 4.8% of the working age population. This is up from 843,200 or 2.6% a year ago.

The immensely popular, definitely not-safe-for-work b3ta website recently ran a Question of the Week asking people for their positive experiences of unemployment.