Conservative Manifesto: Employment

“Since 2010, 2.9 million jobs have been created. We see employment at record levels. Employment [is] higher now than since records began. And unemployment lower than it's been since the mid 1970s.”

• There are 2.9 million more people in employment comparing the first three months of this year to the three months before the 2010 election. This isn’t the same as 2.9 million jobs created. Some people could be working in multiple jobs or multiple people could be working in one job.
• At the same time, there are also estimated to be around 2.6 million more adults in the UK since that period. The employment rate accounts for that—it looks at the proportion of the population aged 16-64 in work. It’s nearly 75%, which is the highest since comparable records began in 1971.
• The unemployment rate—which looks just at people who either have a job or are actively seeking one—is at 4.6% and is the lowest since 1975.