By Vivienne Russell | 12 June 2013
Public sector employment in the UK continues to decline, falling by 22,000 to 5.7 million over the first three months of the year, official figures show.
But while the number of people working in councils continued to plummet, employment rates in central government departments have picked up, the Office for National Statistics noted.
Employment in UK local government was 26,000 lower than in the last quarter of 2012, while in central government it was 13,000 higher. This was partly explained by the increasing number of schools becoming academies, which changes their status from local government to central government bodies.
The number of police jobs fell by 3,000 over the first quarter, the thirteenth consecutive decline. Employment in the armed forces was unchanged compared with the preceding quarter, although in the year to Q1 2013 it fell by 9,000.
Jobs in the NHS increased slightly over the quarter, going up by 4,000. This continues a trend of rising NHS employment as headcount rose by 9,000 between Q3 and Q4 of last year.
There was also a 2,000 fall in civil service jobs, dominated by staff reductions at the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions. Civil service employment is now its lowest level since the start of 1999.
Compared to Q1 2012, UK public sector employment was 112,000 lower, while private sector employment was 544,000 higher over the same period. This takes account of the reclassification of some 196,000 further education and sixth form college staff as private sector workers, a decision taken in Q2 2012.
The public sector employment statistics were published alongside ONS’s regular monthly employment bulletin covering the three months to April. This showed that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8%, but down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. There were 2.51 million unemployed people, a fall of 5,000 from November 2012 to January 2013 and 88,000 from a year earlier.
Youth unemployment also recorded a decline of 43,000, although the number of 16 to 24 year olds in employment also fell slightly by 4,000.
Employment minister Mark Hoban said: ‘With the number of people in work increasing, and unemployment down, these are welcome figures. The fact that youth unemployment is also down is a positive sign. But we are not complacent – through schemes like the Work Programme and the Youth Contract we will continue to help people find the jobs they need so they can realise their aspiration of looking after themselves and their families and help the country compete in the global race.’
