Chronicle Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
| Date | 01 July 1983 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1983.tb00134.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1983 |
Chronicle
Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
December 1982-March 1983
STATISTICAL BACKGROUND
TO
THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SCENE
The Lahour Market
Despite some fragile optimism about the future growth
of
output, the underlying trend
in
unemployment shown in the seasonally adjusted figures continued to rise, and the unadjusted
unemployment rate edged above
13
per cent. At the same time unemployment throughout the
E.E.C.
continued to rise except in France in early
1983.
The continued recovery in the number
of
unfilled vacancies gave a little hope
of
improvement on the unemployment front.
U.K.
Unemployment"
Number
of
unemployed Percentage
(000s)
unemployed
Month
198213 198112 198213 1981 I2
October
3049.0 2771.6 12.8 11.7
November
3063.0 2769.5 12.8 11.7
December
3097.0 2764.1 13.0 11.7
January
3225.2 2896.3 13.5 12.4
February
3199.4 2870.2 13.4 12.3
March
3172.4 2820.8 13.3 12.1
Adult unemployed
seasonally adjusted
excluding school
leavers
(000s)
198213 I981 I2
2885.4 2582.8
2905.5 2615.5
2948.8 2629.0
2984.7 2670.5
3000.6 2679.8
3025.6 2687.9
"New Series
Source:
Employment Gazette
Unfilled Vacancies: Seasonally Adjusted
U.K.
Month
198213 19818112
October
113.9 100.6
November
114.4 104.3
December
117.6 107.5
January
122.0 111.6
February
124.0 113.0
March
126.1 110.6
Source:
Employment Gazette
(000s)
Wages and Earnings
Despite a slowdown
in
settlement rates
in
national agreements
as
shown by the indices
of
weekly and hourly wage rates, the annual rate
of
increase of earnings crept up above
9
per cent.
Hourly
rates continued to increase faster than weekly rates showing the effect of
continued reductions in normal weekly hours. The jump in the wage rates indices between
October and November reflects the implementation
of
some major settlements, notably in
mining, food manufacture, and metal working industries.
265
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