What does the chart show? The blue line, measured against the right hand axis, shows the unemployment rate, or the percentage of people aged 16 and over who are currently looking for a job but who have been unable to find one. The red line, measured against the left hand axis, is the total number of people (in millions) who are currently in part-time or temporary work because they can't find full-time or permanent jobs.
Why is the chart interesting? As you can see from the chart, there was a bump in unemployment in 2011. We have not only recovered from that, but in the three months from July to September this year the unemployment rate has begun to drop below the post-crisis plateau reached in 2009 (which was admittedly much lower than in the early 1990s). This is good news, and should make a real difference to ordinary people if the trend continues. However, opinion polls repeatedly show that the general public don't feel that the recovery is having a positive effect on their lives, and part of the reason for that is underemployment.
Since the beginning of 2011, there have been over two million people who have been stuck in part-time or temporary jobs because they haven't been able to find full-time, permanent positions (this number does not include people in part-time work due to choice, illness or disability). Although the unemployment rate has been falling since then, the number of underemployed has been staying stubbornly steady. The sense that the recovery is passing many people by will persist for as long as this remains the case.
The ERC Chart of the Week is updated every Wednesday.
LSE WINS CLASH OF THE TITANS II
After the unemployment numbers were released this morning, the ERC announced that LSE's Ethan Ilzetzki won the second annual Clash of the Titans forecasting competition, finishing ahead of Oxford's Linda Yueh and Cambridge's Michael Kitson. To read more about how LSE won, click here.
On the 10th December, the Economic Research Council are inviting three prestigious alumni to represent the three universities in the third annual Clash of the Titans competition. Can Oxford win their title back from LSE? Will Cambridge even up the series with their first win? Or might LSE be the first university to retain the title for two years running? To find out more about the event, and to book your place, please click here.
THE ERC'S TOP THREE FROM TWITTER
Here are our top picks from Twitter this week:
An article in the New Yorker arguing that rising inequality is the result of structural changes, not government policy, and what we can expect in the future.
Inflation dropped sharply this month, and this FT blog post explains what is going on in five charts.
More on the ongoing debate over Help to Buy from Money Marketing, highlighting that the government's use of statistics has been somewhat suspect.
LAST CHANCE TO BUY EARLY BIRD TICKETS
Clash of the Titans III
Oxford vs. Cambridge vs. LSE
Economic Predictions for 2014
Tuesday 10th December
18:30 at the Royal Institution, London
With Kevin Daly (Cambridge), Stephen King (Oxford) and Ros Altmann (LSE)
Early Bird Discount tickets will only be available until 19th November.
Book now to make sure you receive the discount!
For tickets and more information visit the ERC website.
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