Office for National Statistics Labour Market Data

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Hunt of Wirral]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Office for National Statistics labour market data published on 21 April; and what steps they are taking to address rising economic inactivity and falling vacancies.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

My Lords, April’s statistics show that economic inactivity has fallen by nearly 360,000 since we came into office. Vacancies began falling in 2022, but we have stabilised and slowed the rate of decrease. In the last 21 months of the previous Government, vacancies fell by 363,000, more than double the rate that we have seen under the first 21 months of this Government. We inherited a broken economy from the previous Government, but we are taking a different approach and driving a more inclusive labour market for all.

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

My Lords, with over half a million 18 to 24 year-olds unemployed, nearly a million 18 to 24 year-olds not in training, education or employment, and vacancies now down to 711,000, the Government’s answer seems to be to commission a review by Alan Milburn. Is it not blindingly obvious to anyone with an iota of common sense that the problem lies with the jobs tax, the unemployment Bill and rising taxes across the board? What a waste of human resources that now so many young people are just unable to find gainful employment.

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I note that the noble Lord has changed the usual formulation of his regular Question on unemployment figures because the unemployment figures fell to below 5%, as seen in the latest figures earlier this week, something I thought that he would have welcomed. It is rather rich that he talks about NEETs, when the number of young people not in education, employment or training increased by a quarter of a million between 2021 and 2024. We are well aware of the problem, and this is why we are investing £2.5 billion over the next three years, through the youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy, to support almost 1 million young people getting into education, employment or training. Unlike the last Government, we take this issue with the utmost seriousness and we are acting.