Quarterly Household Survey Shows Employment Growth Slowed To 2.6%

In the first quarter of 2008 there were 2,135,100 people in employment, an annual increase of 53,800 or 2.6%. This compares with an annual growth rate of 3.2% in the previous quarter and a rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2007.

There was an annual increase of 14,300 or 1.2% in the number of men in employment, while the number of women in employment increased by almost 40,000 or 4.5%. The increase in women in employment accounts for almost three-quarters (73.4%) of the overall increase in employment.

Financial And Other Business Services And Wholesale And Retail Trade Sectors Account For Nearly 90% Of Employment Growth

Some sectors showed stronger employment growth than others. Employment in the Financial and other business services sector grew by 26,300 or 9.7% in the year to the first quarter of 2008, and accounted for almost half (48.9%) of the overall increase in employment.

This compares with an annual increase of 2,700 or 1.0% in the first quarter of 2007.

The increase of 12,300 in male employment in the Financial and other business services sector represented 86.0% of the overall growth in male employment.

The Wholesale and retail trade sector also showed strong growth, with employment increasing by 21,100 or 7.3% over the year.

All Of The Increase In Unemployment Down To Men

There were 67,900 men and 34,200 women unemployed in the first quarter of 2008, bringing the total number of unemployed up to 102,100, an increase of 8,700 (9.3%) in the year.

The number of unemployed men increased by 11,000. All of the increase in unemployment is due to this rise in male unemployment. The number of unemployed women fell by 2,300.