- ONS data shows near record levels of zero hours contracts – 1.2 million, an increase of 55,000 over the year
- The data continues to suggest the jobs market held steady in June, with the employment rate up from 75.0% to 75.1% and the unemployment rate down from 5.0% to 4.9%.
- Redundancies fell by 20,000 to 106,000 in the latest three-month period.
- Youth unemployment remains high at 14.6 % – unchanged over the quarter.
- Vacancies fell by 6,000 over the quarter to 707,000
- Real pay growth was 0.7% against CPI inflation, down from 1.4% in the same period last year. Private sector real pay increased by just 0.1%
Responding to the latest labour market statistics, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Exploitative zero-hours contracts are endemic in this country, with more than 1.2 million people stuck not knowing how much they’re going to earn each week. That’s why the government must deliver on its promise of a right to guaranteed hours for everyone.
“Employers are addicted to this one-sided flexibility. But the vast majority of insecure workers have struggled to meet their basic living costs because they haven’t been offered enough hours – and one in three face a financial hit of at least £3000 a year from cancelled shifts and incurred costs.
“We need to get young people into work – but it isn’t good enough to push them from unemployment into rampant insecurity. No young person benefits from a race to the bottom – they deserve good, secure employment like anyone else.
“It’s time for the government to double down on its plans to make work pay, expand the youth jobs guarantee, and stamp out exploitative zero-hours contracts once and for all.”
