July Labour Market Update

Employment increased in the three months to May, while unemployment and inactivity rates both fell.

The increase in employment was driven by increases in full time employment – 73 percent of the increase in employment was accounted for by full time employment.

Previous improvements in employment have been driven by part time work.  The number of people working part time because they could not get a full time job remains at a near record high.

The strong increase in full time work suggests that employers are more confident about recruiting and  that the current improvement in the labour market may be slightly more sustained than has been the case previously.

Labour market update, latest data:

• The 10 cities hardest hit, and 10 least bad
• Full city breakdown
• Youth unemployment