According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people out of work between February and April fell by 43.000 to 1.81 million. At the same time, wages have risen by 2.7% since August 2011 (including and excluding bonuses). Employment Minister Priti Patel described how the figures “confirm that our long-term economic plan is already starting to deliver a better, more prosperous future for the whole of the country, with wages rising, more people finding jobs and more women in work than ever before”. However, Anthony Reuben (head of statistics at the BBC) cautioned that with all surveys there is a margin of error so when the ONS estimates a fall of 43,000 they are 95% sure that the actual figure is between a fall of 121,000 and a rise of 35,000.

The article itself tells us:

Since the year 2000, Britain’s labour market has been through three distinct phases. The first half-decade of the new century was the purple patch in which unemployment came down and real wages went up. In phase two it all went sour. Between 2007 and 2010, unemployment rose by one million on the internationally used labour force survey measure and by 600,000 on the narrower claimant count measure. The annual growth in average earnings fell from the 4%-plus level common in the pre-crisis years to just over 1%, and spending power – despite a parallel fall in inflation – was hit.

The third phase has in some ways been the most interesting, and certainly the most difficult to explain. The workforce has expanded and unemployment has come down even though recovery from the recession has been the slowest on record. But rising employment has not been matched by the ability of workers to secure more generous pay awards. Indeed, average earnings growth is running at 1.3% excluding bonuses, well below the inflation rate of 2.7%.

The two trends – more jobs and falling real incomes – are linked. In part employment is rising because the government is trying to get people off benefits and back into work. But a bigger factor has been the willingness of workers to accept a drop in real wages in order to stay in their jobs.

This article tells us: “Coalition plans to make it more difficult for 18- to 21-year-olds to go straight on to benefits after school, and instead require them to work or study, are to be announced by the business secretary, Vince Cable. He will hint at the new “earn or learn” plans, being discussed as a possible centrepiece of a new coalition agreement, in a speech to the Association of Colleges. Government figures show 18.5% of boys aged 18 and 15.3% of girls are Neets – not in education, employment or training. The total is 115,000. The degree to which a benefit sanction would be included, and on what terms, is still up for discussion within the coalition, with Conservatives favouring a sanction.

Cable will say in his speech: “The issue is this: the government has a clear vision for 16- to 18-year-olds, where we are raising the participation age and increasing support for English and maths. But for young people over 18, the offer is much less clear. There’s generous educational support for some, while, for others, financial support through the benefits system can actually prevent them from learning.”

At the nub of this scheme and perhaps something for us to think about more widely in the context of rural sustainability and the stalling of the growth agenda, is moving a focus onto cooperative and innovative models of local cooperation and employment based on local opportunities rather than expecting everyone can go down the traditional career route. A route which is rapidly disappearing in the current economic climate and which in any case has denuded many rural areas of their young people.

The article itself tells us: “Youth unemployment has broken through the 1 million mark to a record high and theUK’s wider unemployment rate has climbed to a 15-year high. The government sought to blame the deterioration in the jobs market on pressures from the eurozone debt crisis but came under attack for ignoring problems at home Fears that young people are bearing the brunt of Britain’s economic slowdown were underscored by official figures showing there were 1.02 million unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds between July and September. One in five young people are now out of work.”

“The Government is to launch the next part of its strategy to combat youth unemployment, with the formal launch of sector-based work academies acrossEngland. The new academies will offer a combination of training, work experience and a guaranteed job interview to up to 50,000 people over the next two years, with many going to young people. Together with the Work Programme and the Government’s Work Experience scheme it will mean support for up to 150,000 young people over the next few months and 250,000 people over the next two years. Sector-based work academies will operate in industries based on local labour market demand, including construction, contact centres, hospitality, logistics, and retail. In the wider economy there are currently over 90,000 vacancies in retail, over 44,000 in hospitality and 11,000 vacancies in construction.”

I would like to understand what “Local labour market demand” means in terms of small rural communities and how the almost inevitable concentration of these vacancies in larger urban settlements will be considered to ensure the programme supports the economic development of all parts of England as equally and effectively as possible. The scale of the challenge is further reinforced by this article in the telegraph which reveals:

“Unemployment has soared more than expected to 2.57m – the biggest total in 17 years – while the number of young people without jobs reached a record high, official figures showed today.

I personally feel the challenges facing the young rural unemployed are really concerning and would welcome Government action to address this theme specifically.

It explains: “Féilim Mac An Iomaire, who erected an advertising hoarding on the busy Merrion Road in south Dublin in an attempt to find a job, has said he has been overwhelmed by the response.

“The ad contains a picture of the 26-year-old marketing graduate facing a number of famous landmarks from Sydney, London and New York with the message: “Save me from emigration.”

“His ad has struck a chord across Ireland at a time when about 50,000 citizens, many of them young graduates, are expected to leave this year for work abroad. There are still up to 400,000 jobless workers in Ireland due to the property crash and the country’s fiscal crisis.”

This is a great idea but not everyone has the imagination to try it and if they did there is no scope to save them all.

It is worth remembering, lest in the rush to feel sorry for others we forget about those closer to home, that many rural dwellers in England face the prospect of local displacement due to the recession.