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Redundancies jumped 14,000 before Christmas

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  • 19/01/2011
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Redundancies jumped 14,000 before Christmas
Nearly 160,000 people were made redundant in the three months to November, up 14,000 on the previous quarter, reported the Office for National Statistics.

The data also revealed that UK unemployment rose by 49,000 during the three month period to reach 2.5m.

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said that the latest employment figures help to suggest that activity in the housing market will remain relatively low in the next few months.

He said: “I do not forecast a surge in redundancies over the next quarter, but there will be a growing number of people who will face job losses or forced into part-time work.”

He added that the housing market will face greater uncertainty over the next quarter, as buyers and homeowners remain cautious.

“There is lower consumer confidence and credit conditions are tightening, this will impact people’s decision to buy or move house this year. At the same time, if the market remains subdued, people will see their houses drop in value by 6-7% in the next few months,” Archer added.

Other data from the ONS showed a substantial difference in gender unemployment, with 43,000 male workers losing their jobs, compared to 6,000 female workers.

The number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds increased by 32,000 on the quarter to reach 951,000, the highest figures since records began in 1992.

Despite the rise, the unemployment rate in the UK remained unchanged at 7.9%, with the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in December falling by 4,100 to 1.46m.

The ONS also showed that the employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 70.4%, down 0.3% during the three month period.

Average earnings rose by 2.1% in the three months to the end of November, compared with the year earlier.

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