Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1977.tb00090.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1977 |
| Date | 01 July 1977 |
British Journal
of
Industrial Relations
Vol.
XV
No.
2
Chronicle
Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
December
I
97cFebruary 1 977
STATISTICAL BACKGROUND TO THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SCENE
The Labour Market-Great Britain
Althoughin thefirst twomonthsof1977
thelevelofunemploymentfellslightlythe
general forecasts were that unemployment would continue at around the end of 1976
levels and might even rise during the year. That the continued concern of the
government to lower the level of inflation, together with international uncertain-
ties, would make a return to full employment a sluggish process, was confirmed by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his budget statement at the end of March.
In February 1977 the number of adults out of work fell on a seasonally adjusted
basis by 6,000. It is estimated that of the total unemployed in Great Britain in
February 211,000 had been unemployed for four weeks or less. About one million
had been unemployed for more than four weeks and were aged under sixty.
Seasonally adjusted
(000s)
unemployed school leavers
(000s)
Total unemployed Percentage unemployed excluding
Month
1977 1976 1977 1976 1977 1976
December NA 1,316 NA 5.7 NA 1,273
January 1,390 1,252
6.0
5.4
1,285 1,292
February 1,365 1,253 5.9 5.4 1,278 1,178
In February on a seasonally adjusted basis the number of vacancies notified to
employment offices in Great Britain was 148,700, an increase of 26,100 since
October 1976, the last date for which figures of vacancies were available.
Wages and Earnings
During the period under review wages continued
to
rise
at
a
considerably faster
rate than it had been hoped would occur as a result of the Social Contract, but the
previous twelve months shown in both the index of basic weekly rates and basic
hourly rates had declined. The main pay settlements were in agriculture, iron and
steel manufacture, the Post Office, motor vehicle retail and repair, the National
Health Service and licensed non-residential establishments.
In January following the ending
of
industrial action by some employees of the
Department of Employment publication of the index of average earnings for all
industries and services was resumed. Since August 1976 the monthly index taking
283
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