UK : 8 million people short of work

Around eight million people in the UK have been short of work this year, including the jobless, under-employed and economically inactive, new research has revealed. Leading economist Dr John Philpott said in a report Monday the work shortage rate was 23.2 percent, three times higher than headline unemployment. The total includes over 2.5 million unemployed, three million under-employed and 2.3 million economically inactive. Dr Philpott, director of The \"Jobs Economist\" group, said: \"Unemployment has not reached the levels feared at the start of the financial crisis but it\'s totally wrong to conclude that the labour market has got off lightly. \"On the contrary, the degree of pain inflicted on the labour market has been as severe as expected it\'s just that the pain has been diffused differently than in previous recessions. \"A proper temperature check shows the UK workforce is still shivering with as many as eight million people either fully or partly short of work, despite the welcome job creation of the past two years, and millions more feeling a real pay squeeze. \"While the temperature gauge is set to rise in the coming years, the labour market looks set to experience sub-zero conditions for much of the remainder of this decade.\" The total of eight million, for mid-2012, was 375,000 more than in mid-2011, said Dr Philpott. In a separate study, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation reported a second successive monthly rise in permanent staff placements, with the rate of growth picking up to the fastest for 19 months. Temporary jobs also increased at a sharper rate, with the pace of expansion the highest since March 2011. The studies were published ahead of new unemployment figures on Wednesday.