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The UK workforce has been hit much harder by the recession than unemployment figures suggest, claims a report.  

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says 1.31 million people were made redundant during the recession, which is equivalent to 4.4 per cent of people in work before the downturn.

Two-thirds of the people made redundant during the recession who subsequently found work were on average paid 28 per cent less in their new job, says the report.

John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the CIPD, says: ‘Although the scale of job loss in the recession is much less than originally feared, it is evident that the direct experience of redundancy, repeat spells of unemployment and pay penalties has nonetheless been widespread.’

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a think tank, says the modest rise in unemployment last year was surprising given that GDP fell by 4.7 per cent, greater than its forecast of 3.0 per cent.
‘Employers in the private sector have made pay and hours take the strain rather more than job numbers compared with previous recessions. The other interesting thing is what has happened to those who have lost their jobs. Allegedly there has been an increase in self-employment of 61,000 over the past year, though the statistics here are [unreliable],’ it says.

Unemployment figures fell by 7,000 to 2.46 million between September to November, according to figures last week from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).