Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom: April‐July 1979: STATISTICAL BACKGROUND TO THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SCENE
| Published date | 01 November 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1979.tb00964.x |
| Author | John Gennard |
| Date | 01 November 1979 |
Chronicle
Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom
AprlMuly
1979
STATISTICAL BACKGROUND TO
THE
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SCENE
The
Labour
Market-Great
Britain
In
the period under review,
on
a seasonally adjusted basis,
the
level
of
unemployment has shown
signsof improvement. By June the unemployment total had fallen by nearly
83,000
since February
of
this year and
by
155,300
since
the
September
1977
peak of
1.4m.
This reflected the upturn in
economic activity and the consumer boom since the early spring. However the predictions are that
the labour market will ‘slacken’ in the coming months because
of
public spending cuts and the
recruitment freeze
in
large parts of central and local government.
The
expected slowdown
in
private sector output growth should also have an impact by early next year. Future estimates
of
unemployment have differed only in assessing the extent of the rise.
Seasonally adjusted
unemployed
(000s)
unemployed school leaven
(000s)
Total Percentage unemployed excluding
Month
April
June
July
May
1979 1978 1979 1978 1979 1978
1,341 1,452
5.5
6.0 1,327 1,403
1,299 1,387 5.4 5.7 1,306 1,385
1,392 1,446 5.6 6.0 1,278 1,378
1,464 1,586 6.1 6.6 1,279 1,370
In
June notified vacancies rose
to
their highest level since November
1974.
There was in general
an increasing flow
of
jobs
on
to the vacancies register and
of
people
off
the unemployment register.
This trend supported the frequent reportsof staff shortages notably in London and the South East.
The vacancies
in
these areas have been in general and unskilled jobs, suggesting an across the board
increase in demand for labour rather than a shortage of specific skills.
Unfilled Vacancies
in
Great Britain for Adults
Seasonally Adjusted
(000s)
Month
1979 1978
April
245 202
May
257 214
June
262 226
July
253 217
Wages
and
Earnings
In
the first eight months
of
phase
4
of
the Labour Government’s pay policy, basic hourly rates
increased by
10.5
per cent compared with
9-8
per cent in the same period in the previous year.
Basic weekly rates rose by
19.7
per cent in the
12
months to March
1979
compared with
an
11.7
per cent rise in the
12
months
to
April
1979.
The drop reflected the delay in agreement
on
national rates for engineering workers compared with last year.
By
the end
of
May
4-2m
workers
390
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