A POINT OF VIEW
The ONS headline on joblessness compares the three months to May with the previous quarter. This shows the number unemployed fell by 65,000.
However, because employment is highly seasonal, it is better to compare it with the same period last year. This shows an increase in unemployment of 132,000.
At first sight, the figures on employment appear to be more encouraging with an increase of 181,000 on the quarter and an increase of 75,000 year-on-year.
This appears odd as we know that economic growth has flat-lined over the last year. If one looks at full-time workers strangely, overall, the number of full-time workers has gone up 47,000.
But the number of employees working full-time has fallen 120,000 and the number of self-employed people working full time has risen by 132,000.
Mark Easton BBC presents a compelling overview.
Imagine the scenario: a plumber working for a company is made redundant and decides to set up on his own. As an employee he got paid for every hour he was available for work. As a self-employed person he only gets paid for jobs that he does.
He is a full-time self-employed person but a lot of that time may be spent waiting for the phone to ring. His full-time status has not changed but his earnings might well have done.
This POINT of VIEW is available as a podiicastSee ONS Statistis here
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Statistics show a high number of BME young men being unemployed – up to 50% of all Black people are unemployed. Do you know the figures for those entering empoyment from the 65,000 that are BME?