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Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show higher unemployment on both measures used by government, fewer job vacancies, and static underlying earnings growth. According to the CIPD, this confirms that the UK labour market cooled further at the start of 2006.
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There was however an increase in the number of people in paid work, but this was due almost entirely to more temporary jobs and self-employment, which suggests that employers remain cautious about hiring, said the CIPD's Chief Economist John Philpott.
Temporary work
Dr Philpott said: "Demand for labour remains subdued. Manufacturing is still shedding jobs at a steady rate and the level of vacancies has fallen in sectors that were until recently the mainstay of employment growth - hospitality and retail, health, education and public administration and construction.
"And even though 76,000 jobs were created in the three months to February, self-employment accounts for almost half the increase while three quarters of new jobs for employees were temporary.
"Concentrated hiring of temporary staff and self-employed contract staff is normally a sign that employers are uncertain about the state of the economy.
"The good news, however, is that employers in general still remain surprisingly reluctant to make staff redundant - though this could reverse if the expected economic recovery fails to materialise."
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Susie Hughes, Editor, © Shout99.com 2006
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