“Today’s unemployment figures show that full-time job opportunities are becoming increasingly rare, with a record number of workers forced to work part-time,” warned Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON today.
“1.4 million people are working part-time – the highest figure since records began in 1992. When you combine this with the thousands of workers employed on zero hours contracts and doing minimum wage jobs, it paints a very bleak picture.
“These figures show that low paid public sector workers are continuing to bear the brunt of the government’s austerity measures. While earnings in private firms increased, the growth rate in the public sector slumped to minus 0.5% – its lowest level since 2001.”
Mr Prentis went on to say:
“Today’s small drop in unemployment provides a welcome relief to those struggling to find a job, but it is no cause for celebration because it masks the reality of under-employment across the country.”
“The Government needs to wake up to the damage that its cuts and austerity politics are causing – blighting the future of a whole generation and damaging the long-term social stability of the country.
“For young people desperate to get their first job, these are desperate times. Getting the work experience they need to get a start in life is hard to find.
“There are still 2.5 million people desperate to find work and many of them are young people who have still not been able to get that all important first job.”
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