By Nick Mann | 14 December 2011
Twelve times more public sector jobs were lost in the three months to the end of October 2011 than were created in the private sector over the same period, according to figures published today by the Office for National Statistics.
The latest employment data show that the public sector workforce fell by 67,000 over the quarter to 5.99 million, while the number employed in the private sector increased by just 5,000, to 23.12 million.
The job losses contributed to a 128,000 increase in the overall number of people out of work compared with last month’s figures. The total of 2.64 million unemployed is the highest recorded since 1994.
The figure means that 8.3% of the ‘economically active’ population are now out of work, a 0.4% increase on the previous quarter. The unemployment rate is now at its highest since 1994.
Youth unemployment, which reached a record 1 million lastmonth, also increased this quarter by a further 54,000. It now stands at 1.03 million, a rate of 22%.
Employment minister Chris Grayling said the figures showed that the labour market was ‘stabilising’, noting in particular the 38,000 increase in the number of people in work compared with last month’s figures.
‘The number of people in employment is higher than last month’s published figure and the number of unemployed people is steadying. Encouragingly, this is also the case for young people not in education,’ he said.
The Department for Work and Pensions highlighted government initiatives to help people find work in the private sector, contained in lastmonth's announcement of a £1bn Youth Contract.
But the disparity between job losses in the public sector and job creation in the private sector was seized on by the Trades Union Congress as evidence of a trend towards ‘entrenched high unemployment’.
General secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘Ministers will desperately attempt to the lay the blame on the eurozone but it is the UK government alone that is responsible for the huge cull of public sector employment.
‘There are now 12 public sector workers losing their jobs for every new post which is created in the private sector.
He added: ‘Rather than picking a fight with itself over Europe, the government must urgently turn its attention to the jobs crisis and invest in employment schemes to get people back into work and stave off the risk of mass long-term unemployment.’
The Institute for Public Policy Research said that reductions in public sector workforce numbers would hit women hardest. The think-tank’s chief economist, Tony Dolphin, said: ‘The public sector is the only broad sector of the economy that employs more women than men.
‘If the OBR’s latest forecasts are right, unemployment will increase further next year, and women are likely to bear the brunt in 2012.’
A report published by the IPPR today calls for the provision of universal childcare for preschool-aged children to encourage women back into work. It claims the childcare would pay for itself through increased tax revenues from those rejoining the workforce.
