Ageism is laid bare in jobs data

The Government’s ‘older workers’ tsar says the latest employment figures reveal that ‘latent ageism’ is still rife in the workplace.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics this week showed unemployment in the Uk closed on a six-year low in the three months to the end of June. The unemployment rate fell to 6.4pc in the quarter, the lowest since late 2008 and down from 6.5pc in May.

The number of people unemployed fell by 132,000 to 2.08m. This was driven partly by a record jump in youth employment over the year, with 198,000 more people aged 18-24 finding work.

There were also record employment levels for over-65s – a 291,000 increase or 36pc jump since May 2010.

But while the number of unemployed people aged 16-49 has fallen 18.8pc since May 2010, it fell just 5.3pc for those aged 50-64.

Dr altmann, the former director general of Saga, was appointed last month as the Government’s Business Champion for Older Workers. She said more needed to be done to help older workers, such as offering apprentice schemes.

‘It does seem there remains latent ageism in the labour market,’ she said. ‘Not enough is being done to help these people back to work and overcome ageist attitudes.’ ECONOMIC growth has surpassed its 2008 peak, but UK productivity is still lagging, reveals the Bank of England’s August inflation report.

Weekly working hours rose 0.6pc in the three months to May, against the previous three months. The number of people in employment rose to 254,000

But productivity is more than 4pc below the pre-crisis peak and about 17pc lower than it would have been if the precrisis trend had continued.