Monthly Archives: April 2012

Global Employment Outlook, April 2012

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Global Employment Outlook, April 2012: International Labour Organization (ILO)

  • ILO has downgraded its Global Employment Outlook forecast for 2012 and 2013, revising upwards global unemployment rates to 6.1 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in the next, an increase of 0.1 percentage point in each year
  • Unemployment expected to remain at over 6 per cent until 2016.

English Business Survey

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English Business Survey, Feb 2012 – BIS

  • In England more workplaces reported higher rather than lower output in February 2012 compared with November 2011
  • A higher share of workplaces report that output was higher rather than lower in February 2012 compared with February 2011
  • The balance of expectations for output in May 2012 compared with February 2012 is positive across all regions, with the majority of workplaces expecting higher output

Retail employment rises

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British Retail Consortium employment monitor

  • In the first quarter of 2012, retail employment rose by 0.4% compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the equivalent of 3,011 more full-time jobs.
  • During the same period the number of retail outlets grew by 4.9%, a net increase of 858 shops.

Gross Domestic Product: Recession

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Gross Domestic Product: Preliminary Estimate, Q1 2012: ONS

  • The chained volume measure of GDP decreased by 0.2 per cent in Q1 2012
  • Output of the production industries decreased by 0.4 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 1.3 per cent in the previous quarter
  • Construction sector output decreased by 3.0 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter
  • Output of the service industries increased by 0.1 per cent in Q1 2012, following a decrease of 0.1 per cent in the previous quarter
  • GDP in volume terms is flat in Q1 2012, when compared with Q1 2011

Economic Review – April 2012:  ONS

GDP and the Labour Market – 2012 Q1: ONS

TUC on new GDP figures

Commenting on the news that the UK economy is back in recession, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

‘This is worse than expected. There has been no growth over the last year, and the economy is 0.5 per cent smaller than six months ago.”

Double dip recession announcement devastating but not surprising – TUC

CBI surprised by latest official GDP figures

GDP figure paints unduly pessimistic view of economy – British Chamber of Commerce

Negative GDP figure could affect sentiment among businesses – British Chamber of Commerce

Double dip recessiona blow to consumer mood – BRC

Confidence takes a battering – IoD

UK economy in double-dip recession: BBC

The UK economy has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012.

Regional Gross Disposable Household Income

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Regional Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) 2010 – ONS

  • In 2010 GDHI per head was above the UK average (£15,709) in England as a whole and in three NUTS1 regions: London, the South East and East of England.
  • Between 2009 and 2010 the rate of annual growth in GDHI per head increased in all NUTS1 regions except for the North East.
  • In 2010, Wales, London and the South West had the highest annual growth in GDHI per head at 3.3 per cent.
  • Of the 37 NUTS2 sub-regions, in 2010 Inner London had the highest GDHI per head (£23,846) while West Midlands had the lowest (£12,678).
  • Of the 139 NUTS3 areas, in 2010 Inner London – West had the highest GDHI per head (£33,323) while Nottingham had the lowest (£10,702).

Health in the EU27 in 2010

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Health in the EU27 in 2010 – Eurostat

  • When considering the population aged 65 years, life expectancy is provisionally estimated at 21.0 years for women (20.8 in UK) and 17.4 years for men in the EU27 (18.1 in UK)
  • As regards healthy life years, women at the age of 65 in the EU27 in 2010 were expected to live a further 8.8 years in a healthy condition (11.8 in UK) , and men 8.7 years (10.8 in UK).