Fact Service December 2014

Issue 50 (19/12/2014) - Unemployment down on both counts; Earnings growth stays below inflation rate; Retail price inflation at five-year low; Fit to work service; New appeal over tribunal fees

Issue 49 (11/12/2014) - Osborne's cut to go much deeper; Wages across the globe; Young workers hit by casualization; Reasons for rise in use of food banks; Factory output higher; Cut income inequality for economic growth

Issue 48 (04/12/2014) - Shared parental leave; Business R&D in 2013; Autumn Statement - more austerity; Mergers and takeovers involving UK firms; Discrimination against new mothers still rife; nion recognition in voluntary sector

Issue 50

Unemployment down on both counts (541 words)

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, unemployment fell by 63,000 to 1.96 million in the three-month period August to October from the previous ...
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Earnings growth stays below inflation rate (633 words)

Earnings growth staged a small recovery, but still lags behind inflation, latest official figures show. ...
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Retail price inflation at five-year low (422 words)

The retail inflation rate was at its lowest level for five years, official figures show. ...
Subscribers only

Fit to work service (269 words)

The government’s Fit for Work service was launched on 15 December with the advice aspect coming on stream. ...
Subscribers only

New appeal over tribunal fees (146 words)

The public service union UNISON has been granted permission to appeal the High Court’s decision to turn down the union’s second Judicial Review ...
Open access

Issue 49

Osborne’s cuts to go much deeper (382 words)

Spending cuts on a “colossal scale” are being made in a bid to get the public finances into balance by 2018-19, the Institute for Fiscal Studies ...
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Wages across the globe (500 words)

Wage growth around the world slowed in 2013 to 2.0%, compared to 2.2% in 2012, and has yet to catch up to the pre-crisis rates of about 3.0%, ...
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Young workers hit by casualisation (325 words)

The increased use of zero-hours contracts and agency workers by employers is preventing young people from obtaining permanent jobs, according to the ...
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Reasons for rise in use of food banks (349 words)

An income squeeze, benefit delays and excessive utility bills are blamed by a cross-party group of MPs for a huge rise in the use of food banks. ...
Subscribers only

Factory output higher (192 words)

Latest official figures show manufacturing output expanded at the start of autumn. ...
Open access

Cut income inequality for economic growth (435 words)

Reducing income inequality would boost economic growth, according to an OECD analysis. The think tank finds that countries where income inequality is ...
Subscribers only

Issue 48

Shared parental leave (247 words)

The Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 came into force on 1 December 2014 and apply in respect of babies expected to be born on or after 5 April 2 ...
Open access

Business R&D in 2013 (433 words)

Annual business expenditure on research and development (R&D) in the UK showed a recovery in 2013 after the blip of a fall in 2012, according to ...
Subscribers only

Autumn Statement — more austerity (697 words)

The economy will grow more than expected at the time of the March Budget, but there is more austerity to come, according to chancellor George Osborne ...
Subscribers only

Mergers and takeovers involving UK firms (274 words)

Mergers and takeover activity involving UK companies has remained at the low levels experienced since the 2008-09 recession, figures from the Office ...
Subscribers only

Discrimination against new mothers still rife (570 words)

Even though the law was changed 40 years ago to protect pregnant women from ill-treatment at work, the attitudes of many employers are still stuck in ...
Subscribers only

Union recognition in voluntary sector (108 words)

Two unions — UNISON and Unite — have signed a recognition agreement with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). ...
Open access