Good job on record rates

MINISTER PLEASED WITH ETHNIC MINORITY EMPLOYMENT HIGHS BUT VOWS MORE ACTION

THE employment rate for ethnic minorities has reached a record high, with almost four million in work and unemployment at its lowest since records began.

Figures from the Office of Na­tional Statistics (ONS) show BAME employment rate is 65.1 per cent while unemployment is 7.5 per cent. The BAME employ­ment gap is at 10.1 percentage points, a record low.

In addition, data showed the overall UK employment rate is 75.6 per cent and the female em­ployment rate is at 71.2 per cent – both new record highs.

Alok Sharma, the minister for employment, said it is right to cel­ebrate employment across the country, but equally important to note the highest employment rate on record for people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

“These latest figures show we are successfully building an econ­omy that offers opportunities for everyone,” Sharma said. “Howev­er, we need to do even more. I am personally committed to ensuring that we work to close the gap in the employment participation rates between all groups.”

The government is aiming to support a further half-a-million BAME people into work by 2020.

To achieve the target, the De­partment for Work and Pensions has pinpointed 20 local authority ‘challenge areas’ which factors in the communities with a greater BAME population and wider em­ployment rate gaps.

These areas include Barnet, Birmingham, Bradford, Brent, Ealing, Glasgow City, Hackney, Har­row, Hounslow, Islington, Leices­ter, Luton, Manchester, Newham, Redbridge, Sheffield, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Westminster.