Rising employment figures mask a long-term problem, says KPMG
Reacting to the publication, today, of the latest UK employment figures, which have seen unemployment levels fall by 154,000 to 1.97 million, Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, says:
“Stop to ask anyone in the street and the populist perspective is that the ‘jobs gap’ is shrinking. Most people are quick to say that it’s easier to get a job, today, than it was 12 months ago. Whilst the latest figures certainly give credibility to this view, my fear is that there are still pockets of the economy where jobs are not just hard to come by – but also hard to hold on to.
“Only yesterday, sales figures were reported as being at their lowest level for six years and this comes swiftly after news suggesting that part-time workers were increasing at a faster rate than those seeking full-time employment. The question this begs is whether we have really begun to see the ‘jobs gap’ closing, or whether it has just taken on a different shape.
“There are also stark differences across the country. Combine this with the difficulties young people still have when it comes to joining the workforce and it is clear that we still have some way to go. With KPMG’s own Report on Jobs showing that permanent placements have slowed to a 10-month low, perhaps this note of caution is set to continue for some time yet. If that is the case, the jobs figures will still look good at first glance – but there is still room for improvement.”
