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22 March 2006

Employment opportunity for all: Analysing labour market trends in London

Since 1997 the Government has made significant progress towards its goal of employment opportunity for all.  The number of people in employment has risen by 2.4 million to 28.8 million, close to record highs.  Employment has risen most among many groups where - in the past - employment rates have been lowest, and across all regions.  However, the pace of improvement in different regions has varied.  In particular, the employment rate in London has improved the least, and is now among the lowest of any region or country in the UK. 

A lot of work is already underway across government to address this situation, and the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review provides a further opportunity for strategic co-ordination.  'Employment opportunity for all: analysing labour market trends in London' builds on previous work by government, most notably the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's 2004 London Project Report to examine further the reasons underlying the persistence of low employment rates, despite the capital's economic vibrancy. It looks at the contribution made by population factors, labour market factors, and by the differential impact of national employment policy in London. 

The document finds that differences in population characteristics explain much of the difference - in many cases highlighting national employment issues that are having a disproportionate impact in London.  Labour market factors also appear to be affecting the likelihood of work for some groups in London and the expected gains to work for others.  In addition, some national policy responses to unemployment and economic inactivity can be less effective in London.  The document then considers the emerging implications for future policy and identifies issues for further consideration.

"Employment opportunity for all: Analysing labour market trends in London" is available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website . For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit theHM Treasury accessibility page.

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