Is cyclical unemployment less of a risk for the UK?

Phillip Inman looks here at the latest labour market data and suggests that whereas unemployment is likely to rise in the months ahead, it seems as though we've moved into a new labour market paradigm when the degree to which unemployment fluctuates in line with the business cycle is much less marked.

Unemployment is now 4.3% and may reach 5%, as a result of falling spending, but it's a world away from the double digit unemployment of the 1980s and suggests that UK labour markets have become more flexible as a result of supply-side reforms.