16th December 2011

Unemployment figures suggest troubled economy

The latest round of unemployment figures from the Office for National Statistics show a worrying state of affairs in the UK economy.

With the level of unemployment continuing to rise, many Brits might be tempted to considering contractor jobs instead, despite the relative lack of security in these positions.

The data found that the number of people unemployed rose by 128,000 to 2.64 million in the three months to October, while those in employment fell by 63,000 to 29.11 million over the same time period.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, commented on the latest figures: “Today's data confirms that the first part of 2012 will continue to be a difficult time for the jobs market. This is borne out by the number of people working in the public sector falling by 67,000 over the quarter while at the same time, those employed in the private sector only increased by 5,000.”

Mr Green added that recruitment professionals have given feedback suggesting that there are still jobs available in the highly-skilled sectors, such as technology and engineering. This is due to the “disconnect between the jobs currently on offer and the skills of job-seekers” and could help contractors to find work if they have the necessary ability."