LABOUR MARKET: Tory legacy leaves big challenges for workers despite improvements – TUC

• Zero hours contracts remain close to record levels – at over a million workers
• Vacancies still falling and 1.4 million people are still unemployed and looking for work despite small fall in headline rate
• Real wages rising but pay still squeezed – if wages had grown at the pre-financial crisis rate the average worker would be earning £15,000 more a year
• Economic inactivity due to long-term sickness remains close to record levels (2.8 million)

Responding to today’s (Tuesday) labour market data, which show that unemployment remains high and more than a million people are still on zero hours contracts, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“The Conservatives left the economy in disarray. And workers are still suffering the consequences with a million people on zero-hour contracts, high unemployment, falling vacancies and huge numbers of people unable to work because of long-term sickness.

“The new government has already made an important start on a new approach that can create good quality new jobs, raise living standards, and help more people into work.

“The New Deal for Working People will give all workers the urgently needed right to a secure contract, and it will help boost incomes across the economy. And by bringing down NHS waiting lists and delivering a youth guarantee, the government can make sure more people are either earning or learning and set the UK jobs market on a stronger path.”