5.3 Employment rate

Why is it significant?

The proportion of the population in work is an indicator of the ability of the economy to generate job opportunities for those who want them. 

How does the UK perform?

From 5.3.1 we can see that for both males and females all countries, except Japan, have increased their employment rates between 1997 and 2000.  For both sexes the UK’s employment rate is above both the EU and the OECD average.

Over the most recent economic cycle (5.3.2) the UK had the third highest average employment rate, behind only Japan and the US.