Chronicle: Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom December 1985‐March 1986
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1986.tb00687.x |
| Author | DAVID MARSDEN |
| Date | 01 July 1986 |
| Published date | 01 July 1986 |
British Journal
of
Industrial Relations
24:2
July
1986
0007-1080
$3.00
Chronicle: Industrial Relations
in
the
United Kingdom December
1985-
March
1986
THE
LABOUR MARKET
Despite a continued increase in the numbers of people in work, the
seasonally adjusted unemployed crept up further, reaching
13.3
per cent in
March, while unfilled vacancies showed a small decline on the previous
quarter. Average earnings, with an underlying rate of increase of
7.5
per
cent, continued to increase faster than prices, which rose at about
5
per cent.
Average earnings in manufacturing industries continued to increase faster,
at nearly
9
per cent, than in the rest of the economy. In
1985
the number of
stoppages fell to less than half the average of the previous decade; working
days lost also fell but not quite to the same extent.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES
ECONOMIC
POLICY
The
Budget
In his budget speech on March
18,
the Chancellor, Mr Nigel Lawson
forecast output rising by
3
per cent in
1986-87
and inflation by
3.75
per
cent. The Chancellor announced a penny in the pound cut
in
the basic rate
of income tax. Other measures included a proposal to hold talks with
employers and others on possible temporary tax relief
to
help set up profit
sharing schemes, and a scheme to encourage wider share ownership.
For
the long-term unemployed, the Community Programme and other
measures would be expanded, and a New Workers Scheme would be
launched
to
help young people find work by paying employers
f15
a week
for each
18
and
19
year-old they hire below
f55
a week, and for each
20
year-old at below
f65
a week.
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