Chronicle Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom January‐April 1971 STATISTICAL BACKGROUND TO THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SCENE
| Date | 01 July 1971 |
| Published date | 01 July 1971 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1971.tb00859.x |
| Author | John Gennard |
Chronicle
Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
January-April
1971
STATISTICAL BACKGROUND
TO
THE
INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS SCENE
The
Labour Market-Great Britain
During this period unemployment on a seasonally adjusted basis rose steeply and
in absolute numbers reached over three-quarters of a million.
The
seasonally
adjusted figure for wholly unemployed excluding school-leavers did not show
the usual decline in March, and increased on average by about 22,400 per
month in the three months December to March, and by about 11,300 per month
in the six months since September 1970.
Seasonally adjusted
Wholly unemployed
(000s)
Total unemployed Percentage Excluding school
(000s)
unemployed leaven
Month
1971 1970 1971 1970 1971 1970
January 690.0 628.0 3.0 2.7 613-0 558.0
February 721-0 624.0 3.1 2-7 623.0 557.0
March 754.0 624.0 3.3 2.7 657.0 567.0
April 775.0 61 7.0 3.4
2.7
704.0 567.0
On a seasonally adjusted basis the number of unfilled vacancies decreased on
average by about 12,200 per month in the three months December to March
and by about 8,800 per month in the six months since September 1970.
Unfilled vacancies in Great Britain for Adults-Seasonally Adjusted
(000s)
Month
1971 1970
January 157.1 194.5
February 147-4 192.3
March 133.9 188.0
April 128-7 188.4
The labour market in the first four months of 1971 became less tight than
for
the corresponding period of 1970 and trade unions became increasingly con-
cerned about the level and rate of increase of unemployment.
Wages
and
Earnings
During 1970 weekly wage rates increased by 13.2 per cent and hourly rates
by 13-5 per cent. This compared with rises
of
5.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent
8
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