Chancellor's response to Labour Market Statistics

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, said:  

“Another month of record employment, making a real difference to the day-to-day lives of hard-working families. 

“But we want to do even more to help with the cost of living. That’s why we’re cutting National Insurance for 31 million people and increasing the National Living Wage by a record amount from April 2020.”

Labour Market stats:

• There are over 3.8 million more people in work (including full-time and part-time) since 2010. 
• 97% of employment growth in the last year was driven by full-time work.
• Three quarters of employment growth over the past year was outside London and the South East.
• Youth unemployment has almost halved since 2010, from 939,000 to 482,000.
• Female unemployment is 3.6%.
• The employment rate is at a record high of 76.3%.
• The Chancellor has pledged to introduce a new target for the National Living Wage to reach two thirds of median earnings over the next five years, provided economic conditions allow, and extend it to all workers from the age of 21. 
• This means that, on current forecasts, the National Living Wage will be around £10.50 in 2024, projected to benefit around 4 million workers. This would be worth over £4,000 a year more for a full-time worker on the NLW (in 2024, relative to the current 2019 NLW).