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The myths and realities of structural change in the UK labour market
Author(s) -
Robinson Peter
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
economic outlook
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1468-0319
pISSN - 0140-489X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0319.00050
Subject(s) - pace , labour economics , unemployment , economics , structural unemployment , work (physics) , service (business) , tertiary sector of the economy , economic growth , economy , mechanical engineering , geodesy , geography , engineering
Recent discussion of developments within the UK labour market has highlighted the growth of more ‘flexible’ types of employment: part‐time work, temporary jobs, and self‐employment. The structure of employment has also been shifting – away from manufacturing and manual employment and towards the service sector and non‐manual employment. In this article, Peter Robinson argues that these are not new developments and in some respects the pace of structural change in the labour market has slowed down. Together with evidence that the labour market is now adapting successfully to earlier structural changes, this bodes well for the prospect of further gradual reductions in unemployment.