Job rates beat drop in output
BUSINESSES took a flexible approach to reducing labour costs during the recession, meaning the rate of redundancies was milder than the harsh drop in national output.
The Bank of England’s quarterly bulletin showed employment fell by 1.9 per cent over the past two years, several percentage points better than during the downturns of the 1990s and 1980s. This was despite GDP plummeting 6.2 per cent, a steeper decline than in previous recessions.
The BoE said companies had used pay freezes and overtime cuts rather than redundancies to control costs.