Commenting on the labour market statistics for January 2017 published this week by the Office for National Statistics, Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:
“With UK employment levels still close to record levels and unemployment continuing to fall, the latest indicators confirm that the UK jobs market remains a major bright spot for the UK economy. “The rise in employment levels could be seen in the latest Quarterly Economic Survey results for Q4, which showed the Norfolk manufacturing and service sectors both reporting increases in their staff recruitment.”
“Overall, the Norfolk unemployment trend followed that of the rest of the UK, however, the number of Norfolk Job Seeker Allowance (JSA) claimants rose from 6,985 in November to 7,265 claimants in December. This difference could be accounted for in two ways: firstly, there is always a seasonal swing in the unemployment figures during the winter, which will pick up again once the tourism season gets underway again in Spring. And secondly, Great Yarmouth was one of the first areas in the UK to roll out ‘full service’ Universal Credit, which has had some impact on how the ONS processes the statistics.”
Also commenting on the UK labour market statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce said:
“Whilst the labour market conditions could soften over the next year as economic growth slows, the high degree of flexibility in the jobs market will help limit the extent of any uptick in unemployment. Although there was a welcome pick-up in average earnings growth, the gap between wage and price growth is narrowing. If this continues as we expect, real household incomes will be squeezed further, stifling consumer spending, which is a key driver of UK economic growth.
“More must be done to safeguard the long-term health of the UK jobs market by supporting firms looking to recruit and invest in their workforce, and ensuring companies have access to the workers they need.”
