August 7, 2013
UK construction and manufacturing buoyant but mixed picture in global property market
There are signs that the UK’s faltering economy is on the road to recovery. Construction activity in the UK jumped sharply in July to hit its highest level in over three years, according to the latest Markit/CIPS survey of purchasing managers. This may have been driven primarily by a surge in house building, but even the recently moribund commercial construction sector saw an increase in activity. However a new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has highlighted that while the UK may have reason to smile, the picture of global commercial property markets is very patchy.
August 14, 2013
Rise in number of temporary jobs as employment rates show modest increase
by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace
The latest employment figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that unemployment fell by just 4,000 in the three months to June. At 7.8 per cent, the overall rate remains unchanged since the previous quarter. The figures don’t reveal how many people are working on temporary, rather than full time contracts. According to TUC data, UK workers are increasingly taking involuntary temporary jobs, with almost half of the rise in employment since 2010 being in temporary work. Today’s ONS figures also show that wages grew by 1.1 per cent over the past year, which, when bonuses are included meant wages grew by 2.1 per cent, the highest annual growth since June 2011. But UK wages still lag behind those of EU workers. More →