September 16, 2019
New figures show that the UK economy continues to grow and wages continue to rise. With more people in full-time jobs than ever before, more people have the security of a regular wage. And with wages still growing faster than prices, people have more money in their pockets.
Average weekly earnings have gone up by 4% compared to last year, meaning more people have more money in their pockets. This builds on more recent wage growth in June.
And because wages are growing faster than inflation, that means people’s pay goes further – helping to make life more affordable.
There are a record number of people in full-time jobs – 24.17 million people, or 74% of the total workforce. That has increased by 2.95 million since 2010, a huge increase since the Conservatives came to government.
Total employment has grown to 32.78 million, up by 3.73 million since 2010 and almost 400,000 more since last year.
As more and more people get work, that means fewer people are reliant on out-of-work benefits and more people have the security of a monthly salary.
Unemployment is down to 1.29 million, almost half what it was in 2010. And youth unemployment has also almost halved: there are 451,000 fewer young people out of work since the Conservatives came into government.
That means more young people are in work, developing their skills and earning a regular wage.
The UK economy is growing because we are backing businesses up and down the country –helping more people into work so they can reach their full potential. Thanks to the tough decisions we have made, we can now afford to invest in the country’s priorities.
Like hiring 20,000 extra police officers to make our streets safer, increasing school funding by an extra £14 billion, and getting our £33.9 billion investment in the NHS straight to your local hospital and GPs, as part of our Conservative NHS policy.
Labour’s economic plans would take our economy back to square one. They want to rack up spending by one thousand billion pounds, borrow more and raise your taxes to the highest level they’ve ever been in peacetime to pay for their reckless spending.
Not only that, Labour have voted for more Brexit delay. That means more uncertainty for our economy and for businesses.
Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives will get Brexit done so we can invest in the priorities we all share – like 20,000 more police officers, more funding for our schools, investing in our NHS, and keeping our country on the right economic track.
Commenting, Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, said:
“Corbyn’s Pension Tax will see ten million savers facing a huge bill forcing them to delay their retirement for almost three and a half years.
“This is just one of the ways a Corbyn government would hammer hardworking people on top of his plans to hike up taxes by £2,400 a year, as well as the cost of his plan for unlimited immigration and the chaos of 2020 being dominated by two more referendums – one on Brexit and another on Scottish independence.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party can get Brexit done with a deal, get parliament working again and turbocharge our economy to unleash Britain’s potential.”
Read more about how this Pension Tax will impact millions of savers (PDF)
