Green Politics
Jobs or pay – we still haven’t got the hang of delivering on both
There are good reasons to worry that stalling earnings may stifle household demand
Richard Exell
Richard writes for Left Foot Forward on labour markets; he is the TUC’s senior policy officer, covering social security, tax credits and labour market issues - including the debates about the European social model and labour market flexibility.
Labour market: Young people are the furthest from benefiting from this recovery
And getting back to pre-recession wages is going to take an awfully long time
Unemployment figures: prospects for living standards still poor as earnings growth remains slow
But the quality of jobs is improving
Good news on the jobs front, but pay is definitely not recovering
We’re going down an uncertain path, with serious threats for working people.
Three reasons pay might be falling
Good unemployment figures but stagnant pay have been the story about each month’s jobs figures for a year now.
Unemployment figures: London continues to pull away from the rest of the country
In the last two years, the number in employment in London has gone up by 312,000 – much higher than any other region.