Commenting on today’s ONS figures Northern TUC Regional Secretary Beth Farhat said:
“Whilst there will be a great deal of celebrating and back-slapping in some quarters after today’s figures which show a rise in regional employment for the last three months, it is a bitter pill to swallow when closer inspection reveals a rise in unemployment which is six times greater over the year. Clearly, this doesn’t demonstrate a ‘recovery’ by any yardstick.
“There are also several other factors which undermine this seemingly good news; nationally, under-employment is at a record high of 1.45 million, workers are suffering the longest real wage squeeze in over a century and unfortunately, where there are new jobs the TUC Low Pay Recovery report found that 80% of net job creation since 2010 has taken place in industries where the average wage is less than £8 per hour. Job quality is falling and is now close to a 20 year low.
“We need better jobs and healthier pay rises to tackle the living standards crisis and ensure the full benefits of any recovery reach our workers.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- Today’s ONS figures can be accessed here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-labour/regional-labour-market-statistics/november-2013/rft-lm-table-hi01-north-east-november-2013.xls
ONS unemployment in the North East:
July-Sept 2012: 127,000
July-Sept 2013: 133,000
- The TUC's campaign plan can be downloaded from www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Beth Farhat T: bfarhat@tuc.org.uk
Neil Foster T: nfoster@tuc.org.uk M: 07786717972