‘Total' unemployment in the UK is nearly five million – almost double the official figure

date: 5 September 2013

embargo: 00.01hrs Sunday 8 September 2013

'Total' unemployment in the UK is currently 4.78 million, close to double the headline unemployment figure, a TUC analysis warns today (Sunday). Women are particularly badly affected, with total female unemployment more than double the headline unemployment measure.

Headline unemployment in the UK, which is defined by the International Labour Organisation as those who have sought work within the last four weeks, are available to start in the next two weeks or have accepted a job that they are yet to start, is currently 2.51million.

But TUC analysis of official figures shows that unemployment is actually far higher once wider measures of joblessness are included. A further 2.26m people in the UK want a job but are not classified as unemployed. In the US this group are described as 'discouraged' workers or economically inactive people who want work.

Total unemployment (called U5 unemployment in the US) in the UK is 4.78m. U6 unemployment, another measure of unemployment in the US that includes part-time workers who want more in their current jobs - known as under-employment in the UK - is currently 6.2m in the UK.

The TUC analysis shows that total unemployment for women (2.42m) is more than twice the size of headline unemployment (1.07m). Total unemployment for men (2.36m) is 64 per cent higher than headline unemployment (1.48m).

Total unemployment in the UK is 945,000 higher than its pre-recession level of 3.83m in January 2008.

The TUC believes that wider forms of unemployment should be given the same level of importance in the UK as they are across the Atlantic. Total (or U5) unemployment gives a more thorough picture of joblessness across the UK, while U6 unemployment also highlights weaknesses in the labour market such as under-employment.

With the Bank of England now paying closer attention to labour market performance when setting monetary policy, it is important that officials get a more detailed picture of the true strength of the UK's jobs market, says the TUC.

The TUC analysis is published ahead of the TUC's 145th annual Congress, which kicks off in Bournemouth later today. Under-employment and vulnerable work will be one of the topics for debate during the four-day Congress.

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady will set out her vision for a stronger and more sustainable recovery, in which the creation of high-quality jobs and decent pay rises play a central role, in her address to Congress on Monday morning.

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'Unemployment may have started to fall in recent months but we are still in the midst of a job crisis.

'The true scale of unemployment is far bigger than official figures suggest, as nearly five million people say they want work today. With a further 1.4m people only able to find part-time work, despite needing a full-time job to get by, it's clear that our labour market remains far from full health.

'With the Bank of England now focused on unemployment, it's important that official figures better reflect the true nature of the jobs market. We know that the recent fall in unemployment has been driven by short hours, low pay, temporary contracts, and jobs that offer no guarantee of paid work at all. These types of jobs cannot form the basis for a secure and sustainable economic recovery.

'We also need ministers to face up to people's concerns about under-employment and insecure, low-paid work, which they have so far failed to acknowledge even exist. Unless we start getting more high-quality jobs and decent pay rises, this recovery is going to feel pretty joyless to most people.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Descriptions of the six measures of US unemployment (U1-U6)

U1: Persons unemployed for 15 weeks or longer

U2: Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs

U3: Total unemployed (official ILO unemployment rate)

U4: Total unemployed plus discouraged workers

U5: Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labour market

U6: Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labour market, plus total employed part time for economic reasons

Source: www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab15.htm

Unemployment levels in the UK, Apr-June 2013

	Total	Men	Women
U1*	1,336,968	810,954	526,014
U2**	122,693	70,761	51,932
U3	2,514,136	1,444,541	1,069,596
U4	2,570,825	1,476,995	1,093,830
U5***	4,778,551	2,361,870	2,416,681
U6	6,211,134	3,066,447	3,201,010

* U1 unemployment is defined as people unemployed for 15 weeks or more. These figures are not available in the UK so the TUC has used 26 weeks as the nearest equivalent.

** The TUC has used redundancy figures as the nearest UK equivalent. These figures are not included in U6 unemployment.

*** The UK equivalent of 'marginally attached' are the 'want work' figures - those who say they would like a regular paid job, but who do not meet the internationally agreed definition of unemployment because they have not been looking for work in the last four weeks and/or they were unable to start working within two weeks. The TUC measure therefore includes those who are ILO unemployed and those who are economically inactive but would like to work.

- Official figures for economically active but discouraged workers are not available before Mar-May 1993, and for involuntary temporary and part-time workers they are not available before Mar-May 1992.

- A full table of U1-U6 unemployment in the UK from April 1993 to June 2013 is available at www.tuc.org.uk/totalunemployment

- The ILO definition of unemployment covers people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight; or out of work and have accepted a job that they are waiting to start in the next fortnight.

- The TUC's campaign plan can be downloaded from www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Congress 2013 will be held at the Bournemouth International Centre from Sunday 8 September to Wednesday 11 September.

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