Part-time workforce hits record high

The UK’s part-time workforce reached record levels in the three months to May as people struggled to find permanent jobs in the recession, according to official figures.

Figures from The Office for National Statistics show the number of people in part-time work rose by 148,000 over the quarter to hit 7.82 million.

The ONS said that a record 27 per cent of the total workforce was now in part-time employment, with the category accounting for the vast majority of the 160,000 rise in total employment - the biggest quarterly jump since August 2006.

The number of full-time employees is now 18.2million.

The figures provide a backdrop to a 34,000 fall in unemployment to 2.47 million in the three months to May and a fifth successive fall in the claimant count, which was down by 20,800 to 1.46 million in June.