More than a million older people are struggling to find employment. This is according to the second in a series of reports being produced by Business in the Community around age and intergenerational workplaces. The Missing Million: Pathways back into employment, finds that the over 50s continue to face age discrimination and they are increasingly having to start their own businesses or go into unpaid work, when they would prefer to do otherwise. Older people are more likely to remain out of work once they lose a job and if they want to find new employment, the over 50s have to rely on their own resources and networks. The research, which feeds into BITC’s Age and Intergenerational Workplaces campaign, is being carried out in collaboration with The International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK).

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Unemployment dropped below 7 per cent for the first time since the recession, according to figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Jobless figures fell by 77,000 to 2.24 million in the three months to February 2014, taking the unemployment rate to 6.9 per cent for the first time since 2009. The figures also show a small growth in regular weekly pay, which, excluding bonuses was up by 1.4 per cent on the year. However, the recovery appears to remain regionally unbalanced, with London and the Greater South East powering ahead of the rest of the country. Said Ian Brinkley, chief economist at The Work Foundation: “Employment levels in the North East are lower today than they were at the end of the recession, measured by the workforce jobs indicator. Gaps in regional employment performance are also widening rather than narrowing.” More →

The latest labour market statistics shows employment has continued to rise, but at a slower rate than seen last month. However, at 67.2 per cent, record-breaking numbers of women are now in work, the highest since records began. The figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the employment rate in the three months to December 2013 rose to 72.1 per cent, lower than the previous three months and with just a small rise in total pay of 1.1 per cent. This slower pace of growth in employment and pay is reflected in the latest CIPD/ SuccessFactors quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey, which reveals that, although recruitment intentions remain positive, the rate of increase has slowed significantly and the vast majority of organisations expect to give pay awards below the current rate of inflation. More →

The Government has released new statistics that demonstrate the increasing importance of the creative sectors to the UK economy, although concerns remain about the UK’s creative skills base. The figures reveal that the overall turnover of creative businesses increased by just under 10 percent in 2012 and employment increased by 8.6 percent over the same period, more than any other sector. The creative industries are now worth more than £70 billion a year and employ 1.68 million people. While employment in the UK as a whole grew by 0.7 percent over the whole economy, jobs growth in the creative sector was 8.6 percent. There was also growth in export sales, up over 16 percent between 2009-11 and worth £15.5bn in 2011.

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